{Repost} Grace on a Thursday: For someone else

{I'm reposting my Grace on a Thursday post from last week, which was lost into the blogosphere somehow due to the Blogger hiccup. A nice friend who still had the post on her Google Reader emailed the text to me! Hooray!}

I think up till now, I've been thinking about and writing on the many ways I need God's grace by the time Thursday rolls around in my week. Today was different.

In the matter of an hour, three different people backed out of commitments they had made to me. It was sort of interesting that each person needed grace from me. And even funnier that I had it to give! Today was a good day, so I felt filled up and content, not burnt out and dragging as I often feel by evening. But each of these people were burnt out. They were at their end and felt awful. They didn't want to let me down. They wanted to have more to give, but simply didn't. And I had a choice: either to be disappointed and pouty, or offer them a generous heap of grace.

I don't know why offering that grace tonight was easy for me. It isn't always. But I wonder if the reason I felt filled up was because God wanted to use me. He kept my tank filled so that I could pour into others that fullness of love when they needed it most. (I don't feel like I'm boasting about this because it feels so unusual to be the one handing out the grace, since typically, I'm the one in need of it!)

Gosh, how often does He provide that grace for ME through others? All the time! All the time, the Lord uses a friend or family member or blog friend to encourage me, lift me up, and cover me with grace when I'm defeated. He could do it Himself, directly speaking to me, or supernaturally helping me feel better. But instead, most of the time, He uses others. Isn't that sorta crazy? That the Lord of heaven and earth wants to use broken strugglers like you and me just so that we get the blessing of being filled up and poured out into another's life?

Grace is hard to find in our world. Much more common are judgement, entitlement, retaliation, and unforgiveness. It is also really, really hard to teach our children how to offer grace. The other reactions come so much more easily. They don't have to be learned. They are woven into our humanness. Grace is counter intuitive in our world. It doesn't make sense. And that is precisely why offering grace is so loving; people are starving for it.

Someone will cross you today, or let you down, or say something careless. Don't forget that he or she is starving for grace. God will take care of the conviction if sin is involved. No need to be the Holy Spirit in someone else's life. Try grace. A forgiving smile, a "Don't worry about it," or an "I understand" may be the buoy he or she needs to stay afloat right now.

If you're the one needing grace on a Thursday - and trust me, nearly every week that is me too - take time to look at Jesus and see his forgiving smile. He does understand, and He has heaps of grace for you, as long as you'll believe it and then accept His generous favor. (Hey, you should just take it, by the way. Really. You can't earn it, so quit trying!)

Oh friends. I hope you have a great day. Let me know if you get a chance to hand out a little grace.