Grace Makes Beauty Out of Ugly Things

We spend a lot of time looking back. Looking back fondly perhaps, with nostalgia and longing for the things of the past. Or looking back with regrets, wishing we'd done things differently. Sometimes, one of the hardest things about Grace, about the fact that God looks at our lives and forgives the things we do wrong, is that fact that we have to forgive ourselves as well - because if he no longer holds our past against, then why should we (or indeed anyone else, but thats another blog entirely)?

In fact, the amazing thing about Grace is not that it allows our past to be forgotten - its that it allows our past, complete with all its mistakes and disobedience to be changed and transformed into something beautiful. For example, David, the man after God's own heart, made a pretty heinous mistake, commiting adultery and having Uriah killed so he could marry Bathsheba. But he repented, and through the Grace of God, his descendant, through his son Soloman, born by Bathsheba, was Jesus, the Messiah!

Of course, this doesn't mean that God requires us to disobey him to bring about his purposes.... as Paul says, Grace is never an excuse for doing wrong, and there is no part of Him that wants us to do anything other than follow His commands. But the amazing beauty of Grace, and the amazing power and wonder of our God is that he can work all things together for the good of his people.

So, whilst it is right to look back and reflect, it is important also to accept the workings of Grace, and to marvel at the way God works, and not to beat ourselves up over things that have gone.

(And for once, the title I've used is completely and utterly used in the same context as it was meant in the song Grace (from All that You Can't Leave Behind by U2)!)