Grace, not Anxiety!

I like to write about self-development, be it spiritual, moral, physical, economic, social... It is important to me because that is the overall goal or purpose of our existence. I am just off the phone with my hubby and as I was informing him that my mom had just retired, a flash bulb lit up in my head. Why do we get into a state of uncertainty when we or ours are about to move on to another stage in their existence? Shouldn’t we just roll on with those changes as if they are expected and already taken care of? Do we get surprised at the arrival of dusk or the dawn of day? Albeit some of us do!

God has given us all that we need to get us to a point where we take changes as normal phases in life… He has told us not to be anxious about anything (Philippines 4:6). Isn’t He still God? Have our anxieties changed Him? ‘He knew us before we were conceived’ (Jeremiah 1:5)– doesn’t that count for something… for everything? Don’t we trust Him when He says ‘I know the plans I have for you…(Jeremiah 29:11)?’ Like little kids (Matthew 18:3), He asked us to become. My son shows me exactly what Jesus meant when he said this. My son is at the curious age, he wants to feel everything, press every button, etc. He loves switching off the TV among many other exploits that adults may find irritating. When he does that 3 times, I send him to the room for a few minutes. He stays there alone, cries and bangs at the door. After 5 minutes, I open the door and he immediately stops crying, starts laughing (one of the treasures he got from me) and runs into my arms. He celebrates this freedom and doesn’t blame me. I am just human, tons of deleted wrongs on my record… he is just my son, oblivious of the stresses of life… what more of the infallible, ever true Jehovah Shammah?

Before conception, our parents get anxious about wanting a child, and then we are conceived and birthed and they start worrying about germs, eating habits, safety, etc. We develop into tots and they get anxious about our education, morals, future… and these anxieties don’t go away when we start school. In fact they increase. And then we become teens and they worry about relationships, waywardness, attitudes, … We become adults and take over most of the worrying… job, marriage, family, deceptions, love, accommodation, … We get married, and start worrying about fidelity, sustainability of the marriage, tolerance… With children, we start having same anxieties as our parents had with us. Then while working we worry about job security, salaries, retirement… I can’t remember God saying He created us to be worried about moving from one developmental stage to another. But then we are just humans!

That is not excuse enough, being humans! Jesus proved to us that we can live anxiety-free lives by His everyday actions. Remember the fishermen at sea who had no catch? Remember the crowd with 2 loaves of bread and 5 fishes? Is there any account of Jesus getting worried? Not even when the soldiers came to arrest Him did He show any signs of being stressed up. He trusted His Father and believed that the burden was not His to bear but God’s. Why is it so difficult, almost impossible, for us to live anxiety-free lives? Why am I obsessed with thoughts about how my mom’s life will change now she is on retirement, about my son’s safety, about staying away from my son…? Tough one because trust me I am not different from most people. I even worry about dusk coming too soon 

I have come to have a deeper understanding of the meaning of Grace! Grace is what is takes to totally surrender all to God, not our efforts, not our good deeds, not how much we know… just un-merited favour – God’s Grace. Through Grace, God has already taken care of everything so we need not worry, because He knows even before we ask (Matthew 6:8). We don’t have to work to earn His Grace, it’s free! Just claim it and it will come to light in your life. My prayer for 2012 is that God should teach me more about Grace, open my eyes to see the application of Grace in my life, and share this great gift with as many people as possible. God bless you!