HEARING GOD’S HEART ABOUT PATIENT LOVE
So I was heading out for work the other day when I noticed a service van two doors down that said “Lint-Out” with a phone number. I’d been meaning to call a service company to clean out our dryer vent which was waaay overdue, so I pulled over to take a picture of the name and number. But just then, the two service techs were coming out of my neighbor’s home to load up, and when I asked, they said they could do my dryer vent right then because it would just take 15 minutes. Yeah!!
They were quick and savvy, so when they finished I just had to ask: “On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad was my blockage?” Very gently, they replied: “Actually, about 9.5 . . . or maybe 9.9, dude.” Wow. There was little to no space for air flow and lint disbursement. Not good. Dryer stress. Fire hazard. Whew!
A few days later, a couple of knot-in-your-stomach issues came up at work. You know the feeling. Your mind starts spinning, your breathing gets shallow, muscles tighten, jaw clenches, and eyebrows get furrowed as you think through a host of options and possible impacts. In short, we get clogged up. And if we don’t deal with these reflexive responses to people or problems that stress us out, that clog can get bigger, harder and even dangerous as the years roll by. We need to get it cleaned out. We need get and grant “grace space.”
Grace is one of the most powerful and supernatural forces in both the visible and invisible world. It is that rare God-given attitude and act of being loving, kind, patient, and forgiving of the people that have and may still be hurting us. Like Jesus does when we hurt Him. But that is not our natural reflex. Our reflex is typically getting clogged up with anger, frustration, exasperation, accusation, revenge, and bitterness. And this will burn us up if we do not cultivate the humble art and reflex of receiving God’s grace space, and then channel that grace space to others. . .
Grace space to be works in progress.
Grace space to make big mistakes.
Grace space to be wounded souls.
Grace space to be misinformed.
Grace space to be venting anguish.
Grace space to be totally disoriented.
Grace space to have bad days.
Grace space to have blind spots.
Grace space for so much more.
Yes, this can be hard to cultivate and do, but here’s a thought that might help. . .
WE, need that same grace space from others for every one of those things as well. It’s a two way street, my friend. Always.
The Lord has a way of reminding me of that when I start clogging up about someone or something. And because He is indeed a God of amazing grace, He can clean out all of us on the spot, though sometimes gradually, to create plenty of grace space in our hearts to settle down and take a deep breath or two . . . so that we can also grant that grace space for others. Listen for those whispers from above, my friend. Life is too short to stay clogged up.
Let’s give each other lots of grace space.
