His Grace in Daily Circumstances

Hallelujah,
Grace like rain falls down on me,
Hallelujah, all my stains are washed
away, washed away. Todd Agnew

The circumstances of life are never the same, but patterns of life are frequently similar. I am tempted, each time when presented with a familiar pattern of circumstances, to slip into old and unhealthy patterns of response. What I need at those times is not repetition of destructive responses, but a renewing of my mind so that I break a chain of sinful habits: anger, anxiety, frustration, overreaction.

How do I do that? I cannot, at least not in my own power, through shear human effort, sustain the changes that lead to spiritual and emotional health. When I recognize my helplessness to change on my own, when I repent of my propensity to force an outcome or "handle" a situation in the strength of personal force, I am left with what I have always known but too seldom admit: I need grace.

In those times, when the circumstances are so infuriating, when my urge to control is so dominant, IF--and there is a capitalization for a reason--IF I ask God for grace to pour out on me and I receive His gift of grace willingly, He transforms my mind.

The definition of a miracle is: an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs (m-w.com). We typically expect miracles to have physical manifestations--a healing of a cancer, a limb restored, inevitable injury avoided. I believe that the changes God's grace produces in our heart, while less visible, are no less miraculous. There is no other explanation for the changes that occur in my life, and yours, when attitudes are suddenly or progressively altered in response to our asking for His grace.

Oswald Chambers said that God does not give us overcoming life, but life as we overcome (My Utmost for His Highest). When we submit our circumstances to God and ask for His grace to fall on us like rain, when we go forth depending on Him, we find that we have the same circumstances but a renewed mind, a changed heart, and a miracle of relational healing that is only possible because He has rained down His love upon us. He gives us new life as He gives us the power to overcome our old, destructive habits.

Father God, help us to pause in the midst of the stresses of life and ask for your grace to pour out upon us, to allow you to change our habitual responses to those that please and honor you. In Jesus's name we pray, Amen.