Description

To understand God’s grace, we must first understand that God is a pursuer; He chases after our hearts because He loves us. Even our sin cannot stop God from seeking us out, just like He did with Adam and Eve after they sinned in the Garden of Eden. God is not set on punishing us for our sin, but instead He wants to show us His love. This is the essence of God’s grace; that He forgives our sins and wants to continue a relationship with us. Grace gives us the chance to encounter God and learn that although He does not excuse sin, He will not discard the sinner, as this post explains.

"God's Grace Will Find Us" by Dr. Michael Youssef

As Adam and Eve first experienced God's grace in the Garden of Eden, they came to understand some important aspects of God's character. In learning about God, they discovered that He would not excuse sin. They also found out that He would not discard the sinner.

When we make a mistake and fall into sin, we begin to wonder what type of punishment God will issue us. Though there are always consequences for sin, there is not an excommunication from God. Instead of zapping us into the stratosphere never to be heard from again, He chases us, seeking us just like He sought Adam and Eve in the garden.

Upon the realization that they had sinned, Adam and Eve hid from God. They knew that He had given them the perfect place to live, yet they botched it by falling for the oldest lie of the enemy: God is withholding His best. So they hid, hoping that God would not find them.

However, God and His grace always find us - not because we are terrible at hiding, but because He is so good at seeking. He does not hunt us down to scold us; rather, He chases our hearts so that we can see how much He loves us.

God's grace gives us an opportunity to allow Him to change us. It gives us a moment in which we encounter God and His awesome grace, and we surrender. We stop running from God and start running to Him.

It may be painful at times as He roots out some of the strongholds of sin in our lives. But the difference He makes in our lives in the end will be worth it.

Read
John 1:16

Pray
Lord, show me how You desire to change my heart and reveal those areas You want to see transformed in me.

Reflect
Am I, like Adam and Eve, hiding from God because I fear His retribution for my sins?

Respond
Instead of hiding from God, let Him forgive your sins so you can experience His grace in your life.

Our tendency is to hide from God—especially in our sin. But God’s grace pursues us. God seeks us out, not to condemn us for our sin, but to forgive us and restore a relationship with us. This is the heart of God’s grace; it finds us so we can know God’s love. The next post explains how grace is an integral part of our salvation experience.