Grace Offers Hope

by Charleen Burghardt

How did you make it through a hard time or an impossible situation?

I look back to when my sons were young, and I was a single mother; I wonder how I survived. My two sons had a rare disease needing extra medical care and developmental disabilities needing intervention. I juggled teaching full-time, motherhood, and maintaining a house.

The boys required a specific diet, special education, therapies, and multiple doctors. Engulfed by a whirlwind of demands and needs, I staggered as I put one foot in front of the other. Time did not allow for reflection.

I don’t remember praying elaborate prayers but simple ones such as, “Lord, help!”

“Lord, help!”

 I don’t remember feeling God or being aware of God working. Maybe the stresses kept me from noticing.

Those trying days passed, and my sons are now adults. Somehow I got through those years when the wind never seemed to stop. However, today, I have time to reflect on when I was a single mother. God was there, carrying me and undergirding me with grace. God bestowed strength in weary moments, never abandoning me but accompanying me each step of the way. Plus, I remember the people who loved and supported me; they were gifts. God protected and provided; I always had enough.

Grace

Can you look back and see God’s care through a hard time?

I think of an image of God’s hands cupped around me, not letting me fall.

The word grace can be challenging to define, but it is easier to tell what grace does. It is given without earning or deserving it. God gave me what I needed when I did nothing to deserve it.

What does grace do?

God gives grace without measure; we don’t need to qualify.

Grace is God’s benevolence, the goodness of God bestowed on us.

Our eyes see difficult circumstances; grace undergirds us in these situations.

We see our faults; grace comes in no matter our weaknesses.

Grace seeks us out, finding us where we are.

Grace enables us to become more like Christ,  transforming our desires and actions.

Grace is always working.

Grace surprises us in ways we do not expect.

More extensive than our weaknesses, failures or sins is God’s grace. We can never exhaust it!

Limitless

“Grace is God’s best idea. His decision to ravage a people by love, to rescue passionately, and to restore justly – what rivals it? Of all his wondrous works, grace, in my estimation, is the magnum opus.” Max Lucado

God offers an invitation and promise of grace. Imagine receiving a gilded envelope in the mail with an invitation enclosed to attend an expensive dinner at an elegant hotel. The invitation says to come to the dinner regardless of the time and dress comfortably. Certainly, a lavish banquet will be open. But, instead of food provided, the table has rich grace.

 “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. ” — Hebrews 4:16, NIV

A personal invitation comes from the God of the universe-come receive grace.

Come receive grace

No matter your circumstances, heartache, insecurity, or fear, God will give you what you need-grace. Call out to God in time of need, grace will come.

So, because of abundant and free grace, hope grows in our hearts.

Hope grows

We can expect God to work, that is hope.

Grace offers hope

Prayer:

Dear Gracious God,

Thank you for your infinite gift of grace even when we do not deserve it. What a privilege to be a recipient of your love, favor, and tender care. Help us recognize your work in our lives. Thank you for the hope that grace offers us.

Amen

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Charleen