The Weight of Grace

When my brother and I were kids, we used to wrestle a lot...like many brothers probably do. Because

I was the older brother, I was usually able to beat him because I was stronger. But as we grew older, my win streaks became more sporadic until I could no longer take him. Now he weighs more than me and is twice as strong as me. Every wrestling match is an embarrassment now. I remember one time in college where my floor held it's annual Wrestle Mania during Founder's Week. As I feared, everyone thought it would be a great spectacle to see me and brother duke it out on the mat. Also as I feared, all present saw a 20 second pin resulting in him sitting on top of me. And as much as I tried, I couldn't push him off. He was too heavy. His caboose just sank into my back like a ton of bricks on a feather bed.

I think at some point in all of our lives, grace is a little like that for us. It shows up in our lives and just sinks down upon our selfish, defiant hearts. That was my story this morning as I was at church. We began to sing a song that talked about the grace of God, and my rebel heart began to resist. And as it kept chasing me across the wastelands of my own resistance, it finally hit me like a ton of bricks and sank heavy upon heart until I surrendered to God once again and let him speak grace and joy and peace into my heart. And as the tidal waves of God's love kept crashing over me, I was brought to tears of joy.

See, there's this funny thing about grace. It is extremely heavy for a selfish heart to bear. You cannot accept God's grace when you are constantly trying to justify yourself. Unless you give up trying to prove how awesome you are on your own, grace will just weigh down on you and make you feel guilty and weak. You just become exhausted trying to prove your worth on your own. But the minute you open your heart to accept God's love and grace, you will feel more freedom and peace than you have ever known in your life. The moment you drop the burden of control over your own life and accept the load of grace that Jesus offers, you will find how light and amazing it is. Indeed, Jesus even said,

"Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourself. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 (HCSB)

So my encouragement to you this week is to stop trying so hard to find approval from everyone by making all the right moves and saying all the right things. You are more valuable to your heavenly Father than just for what you say or do. He loves you for who you are. So run to Him in prayer and in his Word, and seek his grace. And there is where you will find what your heart has always been looking for - unconditional love and unending grace.

He wants you. Just for you. Seriously.