Shades of Grey

I was watching the end of a BBC program on Netflix yesterday where the Detective Inspector, who recently transferred from London to a small island in the Caribbean, leans on the railing outside the tiny police station and looks off across the town with a happy and contented look on his face… as if he has found a new home.  That look immediately spoke to my heart and I found myself asking the Lord out loud if I would ever be happy again. 

I mean let’s face it… My sweet wife Piper has had a lot to do with my state of happiness for 48 years, ever since I was a goofy seventeen-year-old kid in High School!  That’s a long time, wouldn’t you say?  So, what about now?  Well, that question rambled around in my head throughout the day, just about all night long and has continued into today!

This morning though, I finally had a breakthrough as I looked once again at John 1:16 where we are told, “And out of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” (EMTV).  What’s really caught my eye over the last few days is the end of that verse where it says we’ve all received “grace upon grace.”  The first time I saw this verse I read it as such: “And out of His fullness we have received… and on top of all that, He’s giving us grace upon grace.”

Another one of the “biggies” I learned throughout the journey that Piper and I embarked upon with those first set of tests back in 2007 in Broken Arrow OK, was the depth and scope of God’s grace.  At one point it was like someone slapped me across the face… not in a negative way, but as a positive wake-up call to the truth!  As we faced the various trials and tribulations that unfolded along the way, I began to see that God’s love which He actively demonstrates through His abundant grace is very much colored in shades of grey and NOT black and white!

Not only did God begin to change many of my pre-formed understandings of how and why and for whom He did things, I also began to see that a fair amount of the seemingly clear-cut (ie; this is the only way…) Biblical advice we got from different people through the years wasn’t so… well… clear-cut as they prescribed.  I began to see and understand just how much God looks at the heart of those who truly and consistently seek Him… and I believe that is what His grace upon grace is all about!

When I looked up the Greek definition for grace as used in John 1:16, I discovered among other things, that His grace is defined as “that which affords you joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm and loveliness.” (Thayer’s)  I’ve had people tell me things about God and the way that they believed He would do things in our situation that did not evoke a sense of joy, pleasure or delight in me.  Has that ever happen to you?

But putting that aside for today’s purposes, the truth that caught my attention is that God’s grace does brings us joy, pleasure and delight.  That definitely gave me hope for a personal future that would and could and very well should be happy again… as I continue (there’s that word again) to keep my focus on Him and His Word… all interspersed with the truth of His grace upon grace being poured down on me!

And you know… If He promises to do that for me… well… He’ll do it for YOU as well!  If you recall, the scriptures tell us that “God does not play favorites.” (Romans 2:11 God’s Word ©)  When His Word declares that He is giving us “grace upon grace” that’s exactly what He means!

That kinda makes me happy!  How about you?

Have a wonderful rest of the week, and as you do, say with me… “I am expecting God’s grace to fill me with joy, pleasure and delight today!”