Grace

             Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

            This doesn’t really seem like a “how God sees us” verse, though it is. God sees us as having needs. He knows we need mercy and grace. Since His throne is “of grace,” we can expect to find it even though we don’t deserve it. That’s what grace is and does. He doesn’t promise we’ll get all we want, but He gives mercy and grace in times of need.

          When we think of grace, we may think of “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” We may think of grace as extra time given when a bill is due, or God not punishing us immediately for this, that, or every little mistake. Looking at the verse, we may conclude that in order to receive grace, we must go to that throne with a convincing plea. All those can be true, but going back to Big/Little and the idea that little and close may be more powerful more often in our lives, what might “little graces” or “little mercies” from the throne of grace look like?

          One idea that came to mind this morning (and I wish there were more) is interruptions. It might be that thing that causes you to leave later than you planned, keeping you out of an emergency, that gives you the few minutes longer to calm down, or that pause when you’re planning to do something you probably shouldn’t. To put it bluntly, anything that comes between us and either calamity or sin is grace and mercy.

          So, may you have a mercy and grace-filled 2026.