Grace

Tonight, I had an experience in receiving grace. I was on my way home from the gym and talking to my mom..( I know, I was talking and driving....but believe me, lesson learned!) and suddenly, just as I turn into my neighborhood....i see it...blue lights. So i told mom I'd call her back and pulled over. I was shaking as I fumbled for my license and insurance and registration. The officer asked if I was okay, because he saw that I was swerving on the road and crossed the fog lines (i didn't even know there was such a thing as fog lines!) I admitted that I had been talking on the phone. He looked at my license and saw that I lived in the neighborhood. He told me to just be careful. He showed me grace. Unmerited favor. Something that I didn't deserve. Grace- getting what I didn't deserve. I deserved a ticket...i was not paying attention nor was I being careful. But....grace was given to me. He let me go. God's grace is like that....freely given to us, even though we don't deserve it. I was struck at how easily I admitted to the officer that I was talking on the phone--the truth, and yet how hard it is for me to admit to God when I've sinned. I mean, what is He going to do, strike me with lightning from heaven? Ban me from Heaven when I die? Turn away from me? No, none of these things. He extends forgiveness, He extends me grace...now it doesn't mean that He's not going to discipline me. I think that often grace and discipline can go hand in hand. God gives us His grace....grace for the moment. Grace to cover us when we need it. I think that sometimes we forget to look for His grace, to receive it. Oh, I'm so thankful that He gives us grace, even when we don't look for it.