Your Love and Your Grace
Have you ever had a song in your head, and it was there no matter what you did? I have for more than a week now, and I am coming to believe God is either asking or telling me something.
It isn’t the whole song, just one line. The line is from the song, Take Lord, Receive, released by the Saint Louis Jesuits on their Earthen Vessels album in 1975. A nearly fifty-year-old piece of music won’t let go of my mind or heart. The line of the song is, “Your love and Your grace are enough for me, Your love and Your grace are enough for me.” I can hear them singing it in my head. It seems to be with me all the time.
As I have prayed with Pentecost, I have wondered what truth God calls me to share. Perhaps it is the song that is my constant companion.
At Pentecost, the Disciples were gifted with the Holy Spirit, and they were no longer afraid. Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. It marks the beginning of the ministry of the Disciples of Jesus. They went forward after they received the Holy Spirit into a very hostile world and preached the name of Jesus. How amazing! Their caution left them, and they were fearless in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus and converting believers to the faith. They endured persecution, and nearly all of them were martyred. Yet, they went forward with the name of Jesus on their lips. His mission of love, forgiveness, and hope was in their hearts. Jesus’ love and His grace were enough for them.
I received Confirmation, as did most of you. I received the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Still, I wonder if I have ever lived in a way that reflected the power of the words that continue repeating within me. Have I ever lived them with the passion of the Apostles?
If I were to complete the song, there are many days when it might go something like this. Your love and Your grace are enough for me except when I am lonely. Your love and your grace are enough for me, except when I am unsure of the future. Your love and Your grace are enough for me except when I feel inadequate. We all have our own ‘excepts.’ We all have our moments when, even though we know the love and grace of God are enough, we still crave more to fill our human emptiness.
Okay, as I wandered down this road of feeling poorly about myself, God called me up short. He reminded me that there is no grace or glory in self-recrimination or self-judgment. God’s love and grace are enough for me to take the next step on my path to union with Him. All the rest is so much rubbish. It is the detritus of the human condition. Human beings are lonely, depressed, afraid of judgment, and more. That is called the human condition, and if anyone understands it, it is our Lord and God Jesus Christ. Jesus gets us. Jesus gets how we feel and what we seek in life. Jesus knows our desire to follow Him. There is no place for navel-gazing at our faults and failings. Our desire to live in union with His Spirit is enough. That is Pentecost.
On this Pentecost, perhaps what we need to see is not the big picture but just the next step. Your love and Your grace are enough for me to take the next step and then the next. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not grandiose. It is simple. Being filled with the Spirit is looking into the eyes of God and saying I am doing my best. It is falling into the heart of God at night, knowing He will give you the strength to witness to His name for just one more day and then one more day. Until you are finally one with Him
Your love and Your grace are enough for me is a prayer of the soul. It is a desire of the heart, and that is enough. God walks with us. When we don’t know what to do, if we let Him, He will lead us and fill us full to overflowing with His grace.
I hope the words of that beautiful song stay firmly planted in my heart and yours for a long time. It is how we live Pentecost. In all the pitfalls of our humanness, His love and His grace will be enough. They will be more than enough.
In God’s Unending Love,
Gwen
