I’ve been thinking a lot lately about grace. But when it comes to defining grace, I’m unable to come up with an answer that truly encompasses all of what grace means. I’ve heard grace stated as “God’s riches as Christ’s expense” or “God’s unmerited favor” or “Getting what you don’t deserve.” All well and good, but none seem to really capture all of what grace is.

I do know that I need grace. Not just me, but anyone who professes the faith and is truly seeking to go beyond surface, shallow Christianity to the faith that Jesus lived. We all desperately need grace on a daily basis.

For me, grace is the means by which I am saved through faith. Grace is what allows me to wake up every morning. Grace is the reason that I can claim the peace that passes all understanding. Grace is what keeps me believing and grace is what will finally get me Home.

I may not have a tidy definition of grace, but I know grace. I know the Giver of Grace who calls me friend and who has declared me pure and righeous and holy and victorious for all time. It’s His grace I’m talking about, after all.

So maybe that’s all I need to know. I certainly don’t have to understand all the different aspects of gravity for it to work. I don’t have to understand all the properties of wind to feel it in my face. And I most definitely do not need to completely understand all that encompasses the character of God to know Him. As if I could even begin to do that.

All I have to do is be like a little child and receive Him and His grace. To take Jesus at His word and follow Him. To make myself a surrendered and willing vessel for Him to use however He wants. To believe that it is only by grace that I can do any of these things.

Amen and amen.