Grace Is Enough

Posted on Sep 8, 2017 in Devotions |

I was in a store the other day. And while I was there a family was leaving. I noticed them because one of their kids was throwing a big fit. Now I know what it is like to be in a store and have your kid throw a fit, but this wasn’t a 3 year old or even a 6 that would be one thing but this little girl (a twin) was probably about 10. Parents were embarrassed but were not doing things that were helping. In fact, what they were doing seemed to be making things worse as they hastily made for the exit. The cashier said much with her face and then they began to say even more.   I got sucked into the conversation and suggested that they needed some significant skills and that such skills are often lacking in this world today. They agreed and we talked about parenting classes. (oh wow what a great segway I thought as I patted myself on the back and told them about our parenting classes coming up.)

 

The next day I had comment remorse. Kind of like buyers remorse but worse because you can’t ever take it back. For some reason I replayed the situation in my head and realized that it didn’t make sense that this little girl was throwing a fit like that. Now granted, I don’t know the family and maybe our assessment was completely accurate. But what if it wasn’t? What if she had some special needs and this fit was the result of that and the parents were actually functioning on a very high level to deescalate as well as they did? What if I had joined in judging them as clueless and the reality is quite different?   That is the problem with judging, we just don’t have enough information. Could it be that is why God is in charge of the judging and we have a much different role?  Could it be that even in situations like this we should be full of grace instead of quick to join in?

I look back now and wish I could do it again but as is the way of this life, we often only get one chance. I hope to do better next time. I guess I stand in the need of grace.

This week we will talk about grace and our role in delivering it.

See you at church

Pastor Chris