sweet grace.

grace. the sweet unmerited favor of God.

most of the time it is hard to understand. do i really deserve grace? nope. actually you (we) deserve nothing. but isn't that was so sweet about grace? its undeserved. its love in its truest form.

grace is forgiving, when you don't feel like it. grace is loving, when they're unlovable. grace is giving all of yourself, despite what others might think. grace goes against EVERYTHING the world tells us.

i am reminded of that old hymn Marvelous Grace. the chorus is "grace, grace. God's grace. grace that can pardon and cleanse, within. grace, grace, God's grace. grace that is greater than all our sin."

as i think of grace, i can't help but think of love. it was explained this way "grace is the arm that extends the gifts of the ordinary, and the same arm that holds you tight when you hear the [bad] news." i love that. i love that in our brokenness, grace is extended. i love that in our ordinary days, grace is given. God loves us so unfathomably much, that he covers us with grace. we suck, and He is perfect. the two do not go together. but BECAUSE he loves us, we are a perfect match.

i need grace. desperately. i need the promises seen in Lamentations 3. i need it as much as i need breath. i love that my sweet Jesus loves me despite myself.

hallelujah for grace.

Hallelujah by Bethany Dillon

Who can hold the stars

And my weary heart?

Who can see everything?

I've fallen so hard

Sometimes I feel so far

But not beyond your reach

I could climb a mountain

Swim the ocean

Or do anything

But it's when you hold me

That I start unfolding

And all I can say is

Hallelujah, hallelujah

Whatever's in front of me

Help me to sing hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah

Whatever's in front of me

I'll choose to sing hallelujah

The same sun that

Rises over castles

And welcomes the day

Spills over buildings

Into the streets

Where orphans play

And only you can see the good

In broken things

You took my heart of stone

And you made it home

And set this prisoner free

Hallelujah, hallelujah

Whatever's in front of me

Help me to sing hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah

Whatever's in front of me

I'll choose to sing hallelujah