Grace 3

Grace Gives Space

The righteousness of God is not a small, enclosed box. It is not a narrow path. It is not restrictive. It is a wide-open space. A limitless expanse. No boundaries. No restrictions. God’s grace gives us space…

For a plant to grow to its full potential, it needs to be given space… And lots of it! Plants and trees need five things in order to grow: Air, sunlight, water, nutrients and space. Psalm 92:12 says that the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. We are called trees of righteousness that the Lord has planted (Isaiah 61:3). And the kingdom of God is like a man scattering seed on the ground which sprouts and grows while the man sleeps and rises, night and day (Mark 4:27).

We also need five things in order to grow. Firstly, as plants need air, we need God, our Creator and Father. He is the air we breathe. Without Him, we have no life. Our existence is totally dependent on Him. We also need sunlight, or rather, Son-Light. We need Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Light of the world. If we follow Him, then we shall not walk in darkness (John 8:12).

Then we need the Living Water of the Holy Spirit. Without Him we would dry up and wither. We need to constantly be filled with the Holy Spirit, receiving Him like rain from Heaven. We also require nutrients to grow – the nutrients contained in the Word of God, the Bible. We do not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). God’s words – contained in the Bible – are like nutrients to our inner man. They nourish and strengthen us.

For plants and trees, these four things – air, sunlight, water and nutrients – work together, enabling the plant to grow and flourish. But if they don’t have sufficient space, then that growth will be severely stinted, and possibly prevented. Space is an essential ingredient in their growth. And it is the same for us! We need space. We may have God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – and His Word working together, enabling us to grow and flourish. But if we don’t have space, then that growth is going to be severely stinted. Space is essential for our growth. And the space is grace. We need grace!

Grace is the empowering Presence of God. It empowers us to overcome sin and the world. It is His divine influence on our hearts, enabling us to do that which we cannot do by ourselves. It is God’s power in our powerlessness, his strength in our weakness and His ability in our inability. And as such, it gives us the space required for us to grow and flourish. God, by His grace, has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west. And now that is how much room and space we have… As far as the east is from the west!

It reminds me of a verse of a song that I once wrote. It goes as follows:

Your love covers the multitude of sin and shame
Which You’ve removed from me
As far as the East is from the West

Your grace gives me that much room and space
In which to move in
There’s even room for all of my mistakes

The grace of God gives us space as far as the East is from the West – infinite, boundless, limitless, wide-open space – in which to move around in. In which to explore and discover all that He is in us and we are in Him. In this space there is even room for our mistakes. Grace allows for mistakes. It actually celebrates mistakes and delights in making up for them. Without mistakes and weakness there can be no grace. And so, strength and perfection are the greatest enemy of God’s grace and mercy. Weakness and mistakes are their greatest allies.

The place of grace is a place of limitless space in which we come to know God face-to-face…

God bless,