“Sometimes when, after sin committed, I have looked for sore chastisement from the hand of God, the very next that I have had from Him has been the discovery of His grace.”
~John Bunyan (1628-1688)
Recalling visions from the Lord, I correspond with the sentiment above; one such time, in seeking forgiveness, I had the compelling revelation that the face of Jesus looked at me in bemusement—why should I be seeking forgiveness when my repentance had already redeemed it?
God’s abounding grace is like that; the redemptive act is lightning quick, even present eternally. It may be seen as an undercurrent through life wherever penitence, the attitude of remorse, is fervent and prevailing.
The Limiting Of God’s Grace Is Not Of God
It is an eternal reminder for us, against our legalistic selves, that God’s grace is not limited by faint human understanding; it is unparalleled, superabundant, flourishing everywhere, precise to a point—yet, never misdirected or partial or trivialising.
It prevails against the deepest of odds, travelling through all circumstances, and meets with Divine desire all ways.
We may never understand the entirety of a concept so grand as grace, and evidence of this is how awestruck we are within the experience of forgiveness at God’s resolutely loving and kind hand.
How must, and how much must, we say it—the limiting of God’s grace is not of God—before we will grasp it; the full measure, or at least everything of grace we can grasp?
Yet, we will still not grasp it; only snippets here and there.
Redeeming A Mystery Any Time We Like
Divine grace stands at such an intimate proximity that it compels cognisance of its ever-present availability.
Any time we have sinned, and come to that shocking realisation, the emergence of remorse surging its way through us, we may have also known the blessing of the Lord, as if the Spirit says, “I see you, and your solemn heart, your mind for loss, and your soul bending ever toward me—that, my son/daughter, is enough for me. You are free to yourself, again!”
Our Lord is not slow in forgiving us; indeed, it is argued that the Divine strength for acquittal at the hand of our sin is like lightspeed.
And this grace of God’s, per its theory and operation, is an indefinite mystery; it recoils no understanding and bears no excuse; it is beyond human thought, above ingenuity, and is acquiesced by nothing other than a heart after God.
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The forgiveness of God, resplendent in grace, is more fully available than we can ever know. And in the right circumstances it does not delay, this grace, and it will not be limited by humankind’s legalism.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
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