I read these words: Grace is free and undeserved.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV)

Something we know and often hear, but do we really get what it tells us. Do we understand the depth and life-changing effect these few words can have for us…

… we do not have to work for God’s salvation plan for our lives. We are receiving it as a gift. A gift that is there for us to receive. A gift to take and for us to realise that there are no terms and conditions written in small print that may later come and haunt us. It is free and it is life-giving and life-changing.

Grace … The gift that is the easiest to take yet the most difficult to receive.

The grace of God does not stop with receiving it, it becomes an endless supply of God’s goodness – all free and yet we struggle to take make it our own as we are so used to working and earning everything we have through our self-efforts.

Are the evidence of your self-efforts written across the pages of your life? Do you struggle through every battle that comes across your life or do you surrender it to God and stand on the truth that your victory lies in Him? Are you exhausting yourself as you perform to earn people’s approval? Are you sacrificing pieces of yourself to keep a relationship alive without realising the cost involve? Are you fighting for every promotion or increase at work, just in case God does not come through for you? Are you continuously thinking of ways to speed up processes to reach your goals, or do you stay in rest, knowing that God’s timing is perfect?

If your answer to any of these is “yes”, I would like to remind you today of a different way we have in Christ.

If we look at the Israelites while they were in slavery in Egypt, they desired a way out and they wanted it quickly. God understood and felt their struggle, but He had a perfect time and way to give them their break-through. It did not always felt so good to the Israelites and there were times that they probably felt that God had forsaken them, but the astonishing part I would like to share with you is the reality that because they waited on God, when the time came, the presence of God’s hand was undeniable.

When the right time came for God to deliver them, He opened the waters and provided a path through the sea that seemed impossible. The response of the Egyptians was amazing. They could do nothing other than acknowledge the hand of God that was over the Israelites and because of that, the Egyptians knew they were defeated…

He twisted their chariot wheels, making their chariots difficult to drive. “Let’s get out of here—away from these Israelites!” the Egyptians shouted. “The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!” (Exodus 14:25 NLT) (Own emphasis added)

How great it would be if people look at your life and say, “The Lord is fighting her/his battle.” A life where you do not have to convince others of God’s presence, but they can see and feel it just by the way you live.

I would like to challenge you to surrender you efforts and own ideas to God and let Him lead you into a life where His presence is written all over the pages of your life. He already earned that way for you through Jesus on the Cross and now you only need to receive it.

Maretha Retief