Plate of Grace

I got up this morning and went through my appointments and work to be done for the day. Man….my plate is full! Sounds like a great theme for a blog, right? So sit back, take a deep breath and just relax…try and forget for a few minutes about YOUR plate.

If you think, once you accepted Christ in your life that the Lord is happy with your full plate…your wrong! The Lord cares for your full plate and in receiving him he gave you more plates. When it comes to plates, God is the perfect “Bed, Bath and Beyond”! He gave you a plate of Grace, not burden. He gave you a plate of Grace and Forgiveness not an empty plate. He gave you a plate of Grace and Thanksgiving full of love alongside your full plate.

Read: Psalm 23. “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house (and at the table) of the Lord forever!”

A plate of Grace because God gives us space and time; Space in which to back off from our labors; time in which to disengage from our duties. Grace is time and space in which it is no longer important to want things. Grace means that God creates for us so full a plate of possibilities that no longer are we obsessed with wanting. It is one thing to be poor. It is another thing to let poverty take us over and dominate us. Grace means that God gives us enough possibilities, enough hope.

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."

A plate of Grace means that there are times when we do not have to do. We can simply be. It’s time to ignore the clock, time to leave off boasting about our ability to work ten and twelve hours at a stretch; Time to be with a God who is not all that impressed with our full plated efforts. Grace means space to lie down and listen; to enjoy what God has already given us; to rest.

There are some of us do not own up to having exhausted souls. We refuse to acknowledge our weariness. We do not listen to the rhythm of our lives. But God has placed on our plate gifts of the grace of restoration.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters.”

A plate of Grace that enables us to discern the right choices and to do the right things and for the right reasons. The right of reasons is to decide what to do because of Him.

"He leads me in the right paths for his name’s sake."

A Plate of Grace gives us the ability to wait, not to feel compelled to do the impetuous thing, just because it seems good at the time. In being “anxious for nothing”, patient, until the right path opens up and the motive is pure, bound with our relationship to God.

A plate of Grace to lead us in choosing to stand in the dark valleys with and for others. We can help those who are facing severe trials and can face that with them. When we do so, it is not only that we are doing something for those who suffer; we are also appropriating grace ourselves. We are then in the presence of God. What comes to us when we support others entering into the valley of the shadow with those who suffer?

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me (us) all the days of my life.”

Our gracious God promises that in the very midst of hostility He will provide a plate of Grace, He will prepare us a table to set our plates on and be confident, right in the enemy’s camp.

If your life is very full, how do you squeeze in more? Well, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you let others things go in order to accept what God wants you to do. Still, you say there is less spiritual danger in having too much than in having too little; I have observed that when people have too little to do they become even more disorganized than those with too much to do.

With a plate of Grace, God gives us the ability to choose what is important and to get rid of the rest.

Don’t you think it’s time to sit at the table of God and eat from his plate?