He Gives More Grace: Encouragement for Moms in Any SeasonShembull

Day 1: Why Grace Is Such Good News

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8

A young mother recently asked me what I would say to the younger version of myself if I had the chance. Without hesitation, I knew what I would say: “Don’t be so hard on yourself; God gives grace.” She sighed and replied, “How do you do that?”

Her question prompted me to think of how often I have underestimated and failed to rely on the grace of God in my parenting. Biblically, grace is God’s favor bestowed on undeserving sinners without any basis of merit. In the Christian life, everything is of grace.

When my kids were young, I was still living according to the law without realizing it: I was trying to please God and live his way by using my natural strengths and abilities to be a good wife, mother, and friend. But in all my striving and busyness, I was becoming overwhelmed with all the good things I was trying to do, until, one day, I collapsed on my bed and cried, “Lord, I can’t do it all!” And in that moment God’s grace was there to meet me as I sensed the Spirit whisper to my heart, I never asked you to.

God began to show me ways that I was focusing more on what I was doing for him than on what Jesus had accomplished for me! So I began to ask God to show me how I could experience the joy, freedom, and fruitfulness that were available by his grace.

God taught me first to remember that our salvation is in Christ (it’s all about grace) and that the way we continue in the Christian life is to “work out our salvation” (Philippians 2:12). Even the power to obey God is through his Spirit—a gift, a grace. From his good hand come gifts of laughter, tears, restful sleep, beautiful sunsets, restored health, protection, and comfort in our griefs.

The second thing we need to remember is that grace, not goodness, defines who we are. What’s the first thing you think of when you read Ephesians 5:1: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children”? Were you more struck by the command in that verse or the statement of your identity? Often our eyes fall on what we should do rather than on who we are: here, the staggering reminder that we have been chosen and adopted as God’s beloved daughters. That is amazing grace.

God’s grace teaches us to run to him on our good days and our bad days, because he loves us. How do you experience God’s grace each day? Here is my answer:

~ Continue to grow in the knowledge and understanding of the grace Jesus purchased for you on the cross (2 Peter 3:18).

~ Take hold of the truth that “sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14).

~ Set your mind on the hope and riches of God’s glorious inheritance, to which we have been called, and “the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” in Christ’s resurrection (Ephesians 1:18-20).

~ Trust and rest in the finished work of God in Christ—read Hebrews 4:3.

~ Trust that God’s sovereign plan is wiser and better than your plan (regardless of what a day might bring) because his plan is an eternal one—read Romans 8:28-29.

~ Keep watch for God’s daily gifts of kindness, such as a friend taking your children for an hour or a day so that you can have some time to yourself, the sun shining after a string of rainy days or a child’s snuggles on your lap. God’s gifts of grace are all around us!

GRACE IN A LINE

I am God’s beloved daughter, and he will be enough for me today, all day.