Grace For All

It was just a few weeks ago that I penned words that resonated with many... words that spoke of forgiveness and why it isn't just for those who did the offending but also for those who were hurt - that healing begins when you learn to forgive yourself and accept the fact that the cross is proof God is greater than the greatest sin, the deepest wound. 

Little did I know that I would see that truth manifested in such a powerful way... 

People slowly filed into the church I call my spiritual home, readying their souls to meet with God on that holy day we call Good Friday. Good not because of what happened that day but because of what came after. 

It's always the what comes after that holds you up when it looks the darkest. And even when the worst thing happens, the reality that there is always a resurrection of sorts up ahead gives you hope and gives you breath to keep going, keep believing... sometimes against all belief. 

As the service began, I looked around the room at those gathered, including a few guests. The pastor read from the moving passage of Isaiah 53, reminding us all that it is because of His wounds that we are healed. That His stripes make a way for us all, no matter how far we've fallen. Voices sung together as beloved hymns rang out, packed with truth proclaiming that the cross is the answer and the empty grave is our hope. Always. Forever. 

It struck me along the way how each of us in that sanctuary came that night seeking our own sort of sanctuary. Looking for hope. For comfort. For answers. For forgiveness. That every person brought their unique story, their baggage, their journey into those doors and presented themselves before God for help. And I realized perhaps more than ever the blessed wonder of this concept: there is grace here for all...

Grace for the mother of five who is struggling to hold herself and her household together...

Grace for the pastor's family when his wife recently survived a close call with covid and made a miraculous recovery...

Grace for the family who's endured multiple miscarriages...

Grace for the husband who survived a scary accident on the job several years ago that nearly took his life... 

Grace for his wife and daughter who were nearly killed some time ago in a car accident, requiring the daughter to endure months of rehab to reverse the effects of a bad concussion... 

Grace for my own family after years of health scares, deaths, and mental health issues... 

Grace for the husband of longtime friend who faced his sentencing just this week and will head off to jail in a few weeks. 

Grace for the lady who has struggled all her life to accept the unconditional love of God and to rest in her salvation... 

Grace for the young lady who still bears the scars of a volatile step-dad... 

There is a space here where God meets us all. Tells us we're not "too much" for Him to handle. Reminds us each that Love - eternal love - covers a multitude of sins and that even the worst of them all can be redeemed because the Savior said, "It is finished." For ever prodigal that's wandered, for every doubter that's questioned, for every mourner that's grieved, for every sinner that's erred... God is still Himself for us in the midst of it all. 

It is the cross that has the final word - not our mistakes, not our shortcomings, not our weaknesses, not our past, not even our future. When He stepped out of the grave three days later and proved that death could not defeat Him, He also proved that the worst of us could not overcome Him either. Jesus is always in the business of showing that He is over it all and that Grace takes us in as we are but cares enough not to let us stay that way. Restores us. Renews us. Revives us. Resurrects us. 

And if such a Love was willing to go to that length to give us hope, how can we not lift our souls in awe and marvel that we have been gifted such mercy? 

Perhaps the list of your failings and your sins seems lengthy and the Enemy is constantly trying to throw them in your face and convince you that Grace has run out. That you're beyond help because you've fallen too many times. Maybe you're discouraged and defeated and feeling as though faith is dwindling and forgiveness is an empty dream. 

If this is you, may I remind you that Heaven is filled with people who would've been outcasts by human standards. There are murderers, thieves, drunks, addicts, prostitutes, tax collectors, deniers, and all sorts of stories one could argue don't belong there. But salvation came to them anyway. Because God is always coming. Always pursuing. Always chasing. Always hunting us down with arms of compassion and telling us to stop running away. To just come and be held. 

So look up, friend, and be hopeful. The Son of God was lifted up on a cross so you could be raised up to new life. He took the punishment you deserved so that you could have another chance to do things differently and just because you keep stumbling doesn't mean He loves you any less. Rather, it's an even greater opportunity for Grace to be displayed in your life and for Him to be magnified. The greater your sins, the greater His forgiveness. And nothing you could ever do can change how He loves you... even in the midst of your mess. 

The promise is as true now as it ever was: "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow." Purified. Cleansed. Made whole. And your faith, though as tiny as a mustard seed, will make you well if you believe in your heart that the Great Physician will take you in. Always. Every time. Without fail. 

Today, right now, He speaks this over you as He pulls you in close: "though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed..." (Isaiah 54:10). 

As there was Grace for us all in that small church on Good Friday, there is Grace for you too. Free. Full. And always enough.