Sometimes life gets so heavy, you just need a little Jesus.  

I had a month like that. 

And on one particular day, Jesus showed up – just to remind me that he really is still there.

I’d been caretaker at home and grinding at work, having to be everything to everyone.  

My mental condition: exhausted.

I couldn’t take another thing.  But this didn’t stop the things from coming at me.

So that day at work wasn’t pretty.  My attitude:  impatient and unkind.

Especially to her. . . my co-worker and friend, a godly woman who has often been a voice of encouragement.

As the day came to a close and she gathered her things to leave, I had to set it right. 

Because I hadn’t looked a bit like Jesus all day, and I knew it. 

Only thing was, I wasn’t quite ready to look like Jesus.

Staring at my computer screen, I threw out an awkward apology as she passed by, sincere enough to show regret.

But not sincere enough for what came next.

As my fingers pounded the keyboard and my gaze fixed straight ahead. . .

She walked up quietly, bent down, wrapped her arms around me, and gently whispered, “I love you.”

Because she knew the week had been hard, the world unkind, and my soul was weary.

And because even if I couldn’t look like Jesus, she could.

And with that, she turned and left.

And now I was a humbled mess, because I knew I didn’t deserve that kind of love at the end of that kind of day.

This, my friends, is grace.

2 Timothy 1:9 reminds us that grace is a gift given to us from the open hand of God:

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.

He gifts us with grace, not because we deserve it, but because he is a God of love. 

And because he knows that when the hard days beat on us, that is when we need it most. 

Aren’t you grateful this is the God we serve? One who forgives our weaknesses, accepts our failures, and loves us, even when we are ugly? 

He doesn’t mercilessly point out when we’re not getting it right.  Or scold us for not being kinder.

He simply wraps his arms around us and whispers, “I love you.”

Because he knows and understands that we are all a work in progress.

I didn’t deserve the grace my friend gave me that day.

But that’s the whole point.  Grace is favor given when we don’t deserve it.  The truth is, I could never be perfect enough to earn it.

And neither could you.

But the lovely thing is, deserving or not, his abundance of grace will never run out. 

He will lavish his grace on us day after day, hour by hour, and minute by minute until the day he brings us home. 

So I thank you, Jesus, for loving us at our worst, and for showing us grace on our difficult days.  Thank you for blessing us when we don’t deserve it, and for gently guiding us back so we can try again.  Help us each to honor you by doing the same for others.

John 1:16 –

For from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

Amen.