I’ve been thinking about this since last summer; it’s helpful in how I picture my life with God.
Consider God as the headwaters, the initiator, the source of free-flowing grace. God generously gives us what we need to be reunited with Him. When we receive His grace, we enter the river. The river represents the movement forward toward life forever with God, beginning now.
Picture yourself as a bucket floating down the river, being perpetually filled with God’s free-flowing grace. As the bucket is filled, it begins to overflow, bursting out the sides, being carried by God. Because grace is free-flowing, and you are not holding it but are rather cleansed by it and continually restored, you do not sink but continue down the river. Your overflow becomes the good things: love, joy, peace, patience…qualities that are only sustainable when they are sourced from Him. Your life looks different and feels different, because you have experienced and responded to God’s offer.
The water on the sides of the river is shallow. There are reeds and branches, things that slow down the flow of the water…so though you remain in the river, sometimes you get caught up making poor decisions or blatantly disobey. When this happens you still proceed downstream, but you are slowed down by the reeds. When you live keeping your eyes on your God, in pursuit of Him, within the boundaries of His truth, aligned with how He guides your life, you remain in the main channel. The water is swifter because you are in the current.
We can participate in more of His goodness and stay more securely in the flow as we remain in the channel. We begin to want to follow efficiently, to flow lean and live free. As we shed behavior that wouldn’t be in our best interest, we will find ourselves increasingly living filled, propelled, surrounded, and changed by His grace. This grace leads to increasing trust in our God, bringing the strength and peace your heart seeks.
So you may want to ask yourself, “Am I in the river? Am I receiving God’s free-flowing grace? Have I felt Him, seen Him, and said yes? What is holding me back from living in the current toward His best for my forever?”
Free-flowing grace is for you, for me, for us. Where are you in the river? It’s something to ask yourself consistently. It will keep your eyes on your Savior, and the flow of God a constant force in your life.
Free-flowing grace is God’s most precious gift and when you live in it, you will begin to long to stay in the current.
