whATTRIBUTES: Gracious One
GRACIOUS ONE
February 28th, 2022
I sit here this evening, as I am finishing this series, and I find a lump in my throat. I wonder: what is the greatest attribute of our Holy God? They are countless attributes, and we have discussed many this past month. But I realize, with this gigantic mass of emotion building in my chest and in my head, to me, high on His resume, top of His job description, is that of a gracious and good God.
Since the beginning of time, which He is the Only One Who knows the entire design from time’s inception to present, Who has not forgotten one minute detail; He has had your and my best interest at the very beat of His heart. He has included the plan of you and the purpose of me in each single weave of the fabric of life He’s woven. There’s not one mention which has escaped His notice, nor is there one surprise hanging in the balance.
I am challenged by the verses in Hebrews 12:5-11 (MSG), which read, ‘So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as His children? My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child He loves Whom He disciplines; the child He embraces, He also corrects. God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off big-time, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.’
I think of all the best I have always wanted, yearned for, fought for, desired and prayed, for my daughters and my son, and now, my grandchildren. Long before I even knew how to want God’s best for them, I wanted my best, and the world’s best, for them. I wanted to give them everything I could and even things I couldn’t, and when I failed them, it crushed me. That caused me to strive even harder to provide the best of everything for them. Many hard knocks later in the classroom of life, I am learning that giving them everything I wanted them to have, wasn’t God’s best, but rather a way to help me feel better about my lack of integrity and character in their lives, my shortcoming at being present and participating in their lives. But still, it doesn’t negate the fact that I wanted so much better for them than I knew I could offer. That is what our good, good Father, the gracious One, wants for us, His children.
If you are a parent, or a grandparent even, have you ever gone to bed at the end of the day and replayed every moment of the hours just passed, and wondered how you did? Have you ever chastised yourself, berated yourself, second-guessed yourself, knowing you could have responded differently, wishing you had made different decisions, hoped for a do-over, promised better replies tomorrow, prayed for improved outcomes? See, our good, good Father, this Gracious One, has it all in the palm of His hands, sifted, mixed and blended together, the ingredients which create the most favorable and purposeful formula, which He longs to pour as a reward over us, His children. Just like we reward our children, our Father rewards us; however, our good Father will never reward us because we ‘almost made it’ or to encourage us to ‘try harder tomorrow’ or because we ‘deserve a gold star’. The good Father doesn’t reward you or me to help us feel better about ourselves; He wants His blessing and favor to be significant and beneficial for our growth, for our good, and He desires all of it for His glory, so that eventually others will see Him as Gracious One, and choose Him as good, good Father.
Psalm 145:8-9, ‘God is all mercy and grace—not quick to anger, is rich in love. God is good to one and all; everything He does is soaked through with grace.’ (MSG)
