He Gives More Grace

I ran out of grace this week. It happens quite often. People push me, and after a while I’ve expended any supply of grace that I have available. Even though I think of myself as a patient person, I reach the point at which I’ve exhausted all that I have to give, and I’m ready to push them away. It’s sometimes easy to even write people off.

I’m glad God isn’t like this. As I reached the end of my rope once again this week, I thought of a verse that brings me no end of comfort: “But he gives more grace” (James 4:6).

The context: James is writing about our tendency to make bad (read sinful) choices. He uses the starkest of terms. He compares our behavior to adultery. We turn our backs on God, and are completely unfaithful. It’s betrayal of the first order. Anyone who has experienced this type of betrayal, even in a friendship, knows how serious it is. How much more so when we are talking about our relationship with God? Not only that, but God is fiercely jealous for us (James 4:5).

How does a fiercely jealous God, the one who is called a consuming fire, react to us in our unfaithfulness? He gives us more grace. As Augustine said, “God gives what he demands.” There is always a greater supply of grace than our need for grace. “For daily need there is daily grace; for sudden need, sudden grace; for overwhelming need, overwhelming grace,” says John Blanchard.

I reached the limits of my grace this week, but I’ve never come close to reaching the limits of God’s grace. As I again have reached my own limits, I’m reminded of the comfort that I’ve never come close to reaching the limits of God’s supply of what I need. He gives more grace, and that is exactly what I need