In him we have the redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. Ephesians 1:7-8
God has provided everything we need for the forgiveness of our sins, and not just barely, but lavishly. God wants to give more than we expect. His grace is available in abundance.
However, we don’t always feel this. The writer to the Hebrews states, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). We can approach the throne of grace with confidence because we know that there is an abundance of grace available. But do we approach? Or do we struggle through on our own?
“So that we may receive …”. Receiving requires a certain emptiness on our part. Emptiness is not a comfortable feeling and perhaps why our society so values busyness and activity. It places us in a vulnerable position, a place where we have to trust God. We need to trust God not just because we have been taught that he is good but because we know it in our hearts, and know he has our best interests in mind. We can trust in the character of God even when our circumstances seem to deny the goodness of God.
We aren’t always good receivers and are often better at receiving when it concerns the big issues in our lives. Things we know we can’t handle on our own. But God is also interested in teaching us to be good receivers in the every day little things. “Give us each day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3).
