His Grace is Sufficient

Whether through googlechat, snapchat, hangout, or on the phone, I am pretty sure that I get to talk to Emily every single day. I count myself incredibly lucky. I find her to be constantly wonderfully insightful, practical, encouraging, and enlightening. While I think that she could fill blogs and blogs with her wisdom, I am so happy that she was willing to write a guest post for this little blog. Here are some of her thoughts on grace:

I must begin my admitting that my understanding of grace is limited.  I spent many years thinking that grace was something that Baptists believed in and I was not sure where it fit in with my beliefs.  But, as I have grown and life has happened to me I realize that grace is, like the song says, quite amazing!

I've had a rough couple of years, who hasn't really?  I only say it has been rough because over the last two years I've realized that my life is nothing that I thought it would be, or (ahem) should be (I'm working on that should part).  I have learned also that the best I am capable of in life is different that the best I'm capable of today.  I've only experienced my best ever self on a few rare occasions.  However, often times the best I'm capable of today is far, far from my best ever self.  For a long time I felt like that best of today person wasn't worth anything because it was so far away from my best ever self.  But, the magical thing I've been learning is that our best today self is 100% acceptable to God.  This is where the amazing part of grace comes in.

Brad Wilcox, a bit cheesy at times I know, but hear me out, gave a BYU devotional a couple of years ago entitled "His Grace is Sufficient".  In this he recounts a story of a student that approached him and tells him that she doesn't get grace.  He asks her to explain what she means.  She says, "I know that I need to do my part and then Jesus makes up the difference and fills the gap that stands between my part and perfection.  But who fills the gap that stands between where I am now and my part?"  This question is exactly what I have been wondering myself.  What about those days/weeks/months/years when I know I should offer so much more, but just don't/can't.  Brother Wilcox's response to this query has changed my outlook on grace, the Atonement, my abilities, and life in general.

Brother Wilcox said, "Jesus makes all the difference.  Grace is not about filling gaps.  It is about filling us."  He then illustrates this point by taking a piece of paper and drawing two dots - on at the top representing God and one at the bottom representing us.  He then asked the student to draw the line dividing our part from Christ's part.  She went to the center of the page and began to draw a line, but after some further consideration she drew a line just above the bottom dot.  He then explained to her that "the truth was that there is no line. Jesus filled up the whole space.  He paid our debt in full.  He didn't pay it all except for a few coins.  He paid it all.  It is finished."

Brother Wilcox then explains that this does not mean we don't have to do anything.  Christ asks us to show faith in Him, repent, make and keep covenants, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. By complying, we are not paying the demands of justice, we are instead, showing appreciation for what Jesus Christ did by using it to live a life like His.  These thoughts have been life altering for me.  Suddenly, I recognize that the best I can do today doesn’t disqualify me.  It's not like Christ is waiting at the finish line once I have done "all I can do."  He is with me every step of the way, He is how I make it to the finish line.

Elder Bruce C. Hafen has written, "The Savior's gift of grace to us in not necessarily limited in time to 'after' all we can do.  We may receive his grace before, during and after the time when we expend our own efforts."  So grace is not some extra power push that we can use when our supply is depleted.  Rather, it is our constant energy source.  As Brother Wilcox says "it is not the light at the end of the tunnel but the light that moves us through the tunnel.  Grace is not achieved somewhere down the road.  It is received right here and now.”  At this point in the devotional my mind has officially been blown. Grace right now…whaaaat?

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said the following:  "Now may I speak...to those buffeted by false insecurity, who though laboring devotedly in the Kingdom, have recurring feelings of falling forever short...
...This feeling of inadequacy is...normal.  There is no way the Church can honestly describe where we must yet go and what we must yet do without creating a sense of immense distance...
...This is a gospel of grand expectations, but God's grace is sufficient for each of us. (Ensign, November 1976)

I believe this is true. Who hasn’t had the feeling of inadequacy? There are days that my best is showering and only watching two hours of Hulu, and there are some days my best is a whole lot more.  But, the Grace of God is sufficient for me and through Christ the distance between my part and perfection will be covered.  How simply amazing is that?

- Emily