Grace and a Wretch Like Me

We’ve all sung the song — probably with a lump in our throats: “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!”

“A Wretch?? That’s not me,” I thought. Seriously. For the longest time, my desires were not to need amazing grace because I was already a “goody-two-shoes”. Ugh!

Oh, how I tried. I thought if I could just be good enough, work hard enough, pray enough, serve enough, I could somehow avoid being the broken, messy, grace-needing human that I actually was. Maybe if I was “amazing” enough, I could sidestep needing to be rescued altogether.

Then one day, I came face to face with the truth: no amount of amazing could save me — only grace could do that.

Paul said it best in 2 Corinthians 12:9: “But God said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Did you catch that? Boast in weakness?! That goes against everything we’ve been taught!

But look at the stories throughout Scripture — Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Pharaoh, the parting of the Red Sea, the virgin birth, the cross and resurrection. God has never needed amazing people –He’s always chosen the weak, the weary, and the wretches so His power can shine through.

And yet, even knowing all this, I still find myself trying to be my own hero! I still get caught up in the pressure to perform, to prove, to strive.

But here’s the good news: God’s grace is more than enough. When we finally stop trying to be our own savior, we find that the real Savior has been waiting all along.

So if you’re exhausted from trying to hold it all together, let me tell you what I tell myself daily: “Lay it down. You don’t have to be amazing. His grace is sufficient.”

And that, my friend, is the best news of all.

Lord, still my striving and replace it with wonder at Your power. Your grace is enough. Amen.