Do you have any grace stretchers in your life? Grace stretchers are people who cause you to extend so much grace that you are sore from all the stretching. They are typically people you want to love from really far away, but not always.
I have a grace stretcher in my life right now that makes me want to bop someone in the head. He is difficult; he doesn’t listen; he creates confusion; and makes a huge mess for people to clean up and its generally just annoying. Grace stretching exhausts me.
This morning, I went to the throne to pray for him. I wanted to pray that God would change him. That God would help him see the error of his ways and rehabilitate him into a non-grace stretcher. But I knew that wasn’t what God wanted me to pray. Dang it!
God wanted me to pray that He would change my heart. Dang it! Dang it! Dang it!
God wanted me to pray for additional grace to love this person. Dang it! Dang it! Dang it!
You know what that means, don’t you?
That means that I will have to try.
It means that I will have to surrender.
It means that I am going to be frustrated and uncomfortable as God removes some of the dross from my heart so that I can love the way Jesus loves; see the way Jesus sees; and care the way that Jesus cares.
I hope God doesn’t mind as I wince and whine from all the stretching. After all, no grace will ever stretch me as much as the grace that Jesus extended to me on the cross.
Jamie
Unfortunately I know what that feels like. Dang it. 😉