There is a part of a prayer that we say every week during the 11:00 am service at my church, that always seems to trip me up. I mean, in my speech. I always seem to have a hard time saying it.
"O heavenly Father, so to assist us with thy grace... that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in;"
I start to stutter and over think the alliteration. All those slithery S sounds throw me off. But as a result of that, I always seem to pay the most attention to this phrase.
God's assistance is through the grace He gives us. It becomes more and more apparent the more I stumble over this phrase. God helps us not in giving us precisely what we ask for, or even giving us great things. No, no. His help is in the form of loving us when we're crying. His help comes when he says "Beloved, I forgive you and I love you - even as you are." His help comes when we get second chances, maybe even 77th chances... His help comes when we are loved despite being grumpy, difficult, or even hideous. His help comes in ways that the world wouldn't expect.
Grace isn't something common in our world. Eye for an eye, or ... as my husband put it when he hurt me physically and then I bit him and hurt him worse, an eye for a life. Haha! Of course, he was kidding, but the point is true. We like justice. We like revenge. We like coming out as a winner and not a loser.
But God doesn't care. He cares FOR us, not for our position, rank, record, or works. We are loved. And this love, this grace, helps us. Even when we can't even say it!
(special thanks to Grace Stering, my ... cousin-in-law? from whom I stole the cool ways of writing "Grace" :)
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