The God of Grace and Glory

It has been a mighty busy week, or two weeks, actually. Nothing super extraordinary or anything, just lots of meetings, children's school projects, decisions on school courses for next year, volunteer activities, high school sporting events, planning for a future Bible study, and, of course, the usual endless loads of laundry, cleaning, cooking, carpooling, and on and on. By this afternoon, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and discouraged. Next year I am helping with a women's Bible study at our church, and I thought, "How on earth am I going to do that, too? I'm already on overload, failing to get done all I need to get done and feeling like I'm doing everything poorly." You know, mama's guilt and inadequacy and all that.

A dear friend texted me that she had dropped something off in my mailbox, and as I zoomed out the door on the way to drop something off at school for one of my children (and before carpools for several other children!), I remembered to grab it. I read a little note attached to it that simply said, "Read March 19." And here is what I read: "The Lord will give grace and glory." Psalm 84:11. Now I realize that may not mean much to you, but if you are involved in our church women's Bible study, like me, you might have gasped. For you see, we labored over what to call our study. We went through weeks and weeks of various names, never seeming to come up with what we felt was God's choice.

And then a week or two ago, God gave us the name: Morning Glory (for our day class) and Evening Grace (for our night class). We would refer to them together as the Grace & Glory classes--because everything, absolutely everything we do, from dawn to dusk, is all by His grace, and all for His glory. The older I get, the more I realize this--I wouldn't be able to tie my shoes properly, much less love my husband and children, do all that He's called me to do, encourage and love my friends, apart from His amazing, supernatural, glorious grace.

The thing is, I tend to forget this. I tend to get busy busy busy trying to do all I have to do, accomplishing, completing, competing, succeeding (and failing), and I forget about beseeching Him for His grace. Do that long enough, and you get exhaustion or joylessness or burn out or discouragement or even despair. And you sure as shooting don't get blessing and contentment and peace!

As I read the words of the little devotional my dear friend, Holly, had dropped off, I realized they echoed what I had just been thinking about the other day. Charles Spurgeon wrote that "Grace is what we need just now, and it is to be had freely. What can be freer than a gift? Today we shall receive sustaining, strengthening, sanctifying, satisfying grace. He has given us daily grace until now, and as for the future, that grace is still sufficient. If we have but little grace, the fault must lie in ourselves; for the Lord is not straitened, neither is He slow to bestow it in abundance. We may ask for as much as we will and never fear refusal. He giveth liberally and upbraideth not."

I immediately thought of the story I had read a few days ago about the poor widow who came to the prophet Elisha, desperate for help. She was unable to pay her bills, and the creditor had come to take her two children to be his slaves. When Elisha asked her, "Tell me: what do you have in the house?," she responded that she had "nothing in the house except a jar of oil." (2 Kings 4:2) Elisha tells her to go borrow as many vessels as she possibly can from all her neighbors. "Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all the vessels" and keep pouring one after another. (2 Kings4:4)

And that is exactly what she did. She gathered the vessels and began pouring and pouring and pouring the oil into jar after jar after jar. I would have loved to have seen that varied and sundry assortment of vessels--surely there were jugs and big jars and small containers and bowls and fancy pots and rude, broken vessels of all shapes and sizes. But as soon as she had filled the very last container, "the oil stopped flowing." (v.6) She then went and sold the oil and paid her debts.

I couldn't help pondering: I wonder if she wished she had gotten a few more vessels? I bet she figured she surely could have scrounged up more containers of some kind or another, and if she had, the oil would have kept flowing and flowing and flowing. The only reason the oil ran dry was because of her failure to keep offering up more empty vessels.

Isn't that a bit like grace? God offers the free, glorious, life-giving gift of His grace to all of us. His grace never runs out, never runs dry, never proves even slightly inadequate to any possible need. As long as we hold out our hands and ask, He keeps pouring it upon us in beautiful abundance, to meet our every need. But I need to keep offering, keep holding out my empty, needy hands to the One who is all-sufficient. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep handing Him my empty vessels... and watch them be filled by the Savior.

"Lord, here is my empty jar of energy"--and He gives grace. "Father, here's my empty container of parenting. I need help, I need wisdom, I need love"--and His grace overflows my weaknesses and vacant spaces. "Jesus, here's my empty cup of clutter and disorganization and unfinished tasks"... and the grace flows and fills. "Savior, here's my empty jug of patience or peace or forgiveness or kindness. I have none; I'm just fresh out." And the grace just seems to fill and flow and overflow. "Lord, here's my completely empty bowl of love--for those You've given me and even for You"--and somehow, the God of all mercy and grace and glory, forgives and renews and restores and refills to overflowing every sinful vacancy, every lack, every failed intention with Himself and His endless, glorious grace.

Today, might we praise the Lord of infinite provision who promises to give grace and glory to His empty, needy children. We are weak... but He is strong, so strong. So infinitely, graciously, gloriously strong.

And His grace is flowing and flowing and flowing. Will you hand Him your empty jars and jugs, whatever the size, whatever the shape, whatever the need?... and keep handing them to Him who ever flows and fills, all by His grace and all for His glory. He will never ever fail to fill with His grace. All glory be to our Great God of all Grace.