A Little Grace

"Daddy, you going to spank me?" 

"Yes, Avery, I am. You disobeyed what Mama and I told you to do. We said, 'Don't grab your cup until you sit down for dinner.' You didn't listen and you spilled your milk again."

Tears began to flood her tiny brown eyes..."But, Daddy, I little."

In four words, my precious three year old communicated a mountain of emotion and truth. There was only one way to respond. Give her what she didn't deserve. 

I'm not quite sure what happened in my soul when I decided not to spank Avery, but something felt different. Was the discipline warranted? Sure. I'd spanked her for her disobedience in the past. But I believe the Spirit quickened a truth in that moment and in the process taught me a valuable lesson, a lesson I needed to feel. Grace always overcomes.

Isn't that the truth Jesus came to embody? Didn't he come in our same flesh to give us a gift we didn't deserve and could never earn? I'm thinking about his entire life and ministry, not just the finale. His agenda was grace. I forget that...a lot! 

Take for example the sequence of accounts in Matthew 14. John, Jesus' mentor, fellow prophet, cousin and dear friend, had just been brutally decapitated. Jesus wants to mourn, as all of us would, and yet we find the Messiah doing damage control with the disciples' lack of faith. Just like Avery, they weren't listening to his instructions and they were getting easily distracted. 

Imagine your spouse or child or most beloved friend, the person who knew you the most and loved you the best, has been cruelly murdered. The last thing you might feel like doing is standing as a rock for others. Yet that's exactly what Yeshua ends up doing and in the process offers us a peek into the heartbeat of G-d. He heals the masses. Then shows them how to put food in their aching bellies. All the while he continues to teach his disciples, even amidst their lack of insight and poor choice of words, the core kingdom principles of service, faith, and love. He digs past his inexplicable sorrow and anguish and finds his glowing purpose. Grace. 

Did the disciples deserve to learn a hard lesson? Given their narrow mindedness and forgetfulness, he could have let them squirm under the gaze of the thousands. In the midst of the storm could he have let them pull at the oars a little longer, eventually allowing one or two of them to topple out of the boat before he came to them? Sure. Instead he puts his purpose before himself and perhaps what they may have deserved. Grace.

Failure. It's something I struggle with. Recognizing my own and forgiving others theirs. I'm learning to mirror his grace within those failure-moments and embrace his, and I'm thankful for innocent tongues like Avery's that remind me of his purpose for all of us. 

"But, Abba, I little."

"Grace."

ADONAI takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who wait on his grace. -Psalm 147:11