Violent Grace

Violent Grace

"Let the bones that you have broken rejoice ..." Psalm 51:8

Dr. Paul Tripp in is book, WHITER THAN SNOW -- Meditations On Sin and Mercy (Crossway) reminds us that the grace that saves us and keeps us, is also the grace that sometimes is uncomfortable because it is part of God's plan to work not on my comfort but on my character.

Hear these words: As sinners we all become too comfortable with our sin. The thought that once bothered becomes and action that no longer plagues our conscience. The word that troubled us the first time it was uttered now is accompanied by others that are worse. The marriage that was once a picture of biblical love has now become a relationship of cold-war detente.

Commitment to work degenerates into doing as little as we can for as much pay as we can negotiate. A commitment to a devotional life becomes perfunctory and empty duty, more like getting our ticket punched for heaven than enjoying communion with our Lord. Minor, unexpressed irritation, which once troubled our hearts, is now fully expressed anger that is easily rationalized away. Sin is like the unnoticed drips of water that silently destroy the foundation of a house ...

Think about it: He sometimes uses pain to crush us because He wants us the feel the pain of our sin and run to HIM for forgiveness and deliverance. The physical pain of an actual broken bone is worth being thankful for because it is a warning sign something is wrong in that arm or leg.

In the same way, God's loving hammer of conviction is meant to break your heart, and the pain of heart you feel is meant to alert you to the fact that something is spiritually wrong inside of you. Like the warning signal of physical pain, the rescuing and restoring pain of convicting grace is a thing worth celebrating.

So God's grace isn't always comfortable because he isn't primarily working on our comfort; he's working on our character. With violent grace he will crush us because he loves us and is committed to our restoration, deliverance, and refinement. And that is something worth celebrating!" Ouch! Is God trying to get your attention, my brother? Allow His violent grace to lead you back to the cross today. -- Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 2; Psalm 137-139; 1 Corinthians 13

Great Quote: To the only one who sees the world as it is. I ask for clarity; and if not clarity, purity, -- and if not purity, forgiveness -- not because I'm so unwilling to open my eyes. When I've strayed, draw me in, where I've stumbled, lift me up, and where I've lifted myself, knock be down until I see your world and your love with clear, unclouded eyes. -- Steven James -- A Heart Exposed -- Talking to God With Nothing to Hide (Revell)