Given Grace

Devotional for 11/26/11

“(All) are justified and made upright and in right standing with God,

 freely and gratuitously by His grace, (His unmerited favor and mercy)
through the redemption which is (provided) in Christ Jesus”.

Romans 3:24

 (Amplified Bible)

For those of you who don’t know, my Husband and I own an Auto Repair Shop. I am the Office Manager and have a whole list of responsibilities, but most of it has to do with paperwork, of which there is a lot of. I deal with all of the payroll, payroll taxes, license renewal fees, quarterly taxes, accounts receivable, etc.


We have two Smog Machines which are licensed by the State of California. The license renewal date for these two machines was October 31. Well, I had known they were there, I had received them about a month and a half in advance. So, I filed them, and then I forgot about them. Somehow they managed to get further and further back as I began to file the more recent bills in front of them.

To make a long story short, I paid them late. Four days later both of our Smog Machines were shut down by the State of California. Due to a Holiday, the mail, with my renewal check, hadn’t gotten there in time. We were locked out of both machines for four days. This meant that our Smog Technician could not perform smog tests for any of our customers, which promptly led to a “piling up” of cars in the yard.

What a mess that one mistake caused. The one thing I have never wanted to do was to put added stress on my Husband. Well, I did. He was the one who had to listen to the customers complain when they called up and asked to speak directly to him. He was the one who had to go into work early on the day that the machines were finally up and running again. He was the one who carried the whole responsibility of my mistake on his shoulders.

What stood out to me is this. He was also the one who continued to tell me that “It’s okay, Beverley, mistakes happen.” For four days I kept waiting to hear him blame me in some way, but he never did. What he did do though, was to show me grace. He never humiliated me. He never yelled at me. He never even changed his behavior towards me. In fact, I heard him on several occasions “cover” me while talking to others, when he could have exposed the fact that it was my mistake that had caused this whole mess.

How humbled I was, and still am, by his Godly behavior. Now, I know that my husband is a very good man, but honestly, I was so humbled. I have thought about it since then and I don’t know how I would have responded if I had been in his place. I don’t think that I would have handled it as well at all. In fact, quite honestly, I know that I wouldn’t have. But now that I have been the recipient of that kind of grace and “covering” I know that I would love to treat others the same. I guess the hardest part for me was to know that I deserved the blame! It would’ve been easier in some ways to have just been yelled at and gotten it over with.


This all leads me to this season of Thanksgiving. How blessed we are that the Lord “covers” us in our humility. How loved we are to be given such grace. The Bible describes grace as “God’s unmerited favor”. That means that there is nothing that we could ever do that would cause us to deserve it in any way. Nothing. Ever.


Yet, we still remain the objects of His love and “unmerited favor”. At times, I just can’t fathom the meaning of all of this. I know that the Lord gives us this kind of grace, and then He expects us to give it to others just as freely. I have to admit, at times I have been known to be quite “stingy” with it. At times I have judged, instead of “covering” others in their weaknesses, or mistakes. I have behaved with a “holier than thou” type of attitude. I have with held my kindness and acceptance in the very place that grace was calling out to be given inside of me instead.


Lord Jesus, thank you today for your grace. Thank you that You died for us, while we were yet sinners. Thank you that you loved us first, in order that we would love ourselves, and others. Thank you for the grace that you show us, and also for the grace that others give to us as well. When people behave as my Husband did, they are behaving as You do. Thank you for teaching us to be thankful during this season, and for walking beside us in each and every other season of our lives. Please teach us to be more like You, we pray. In Your Name, Amen.


In closing, I’d like to leave you with the following verse. It has been on my mind and in my heart ever since all of this has happened.

“But grow in grace (undeserved favor,
 spiritual strength) and recognition and knowledge

and understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (the Messiah).

To Him (be) glory (honor, majesty, and splendor) both now

 and to the day of eternity. Amen. (so be it)!”

II Peter 3:18

(Amplified Bible)

Written by Beverley A. Napier