Fall Back on the Grace of God

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 7
 
“Although my house be not so with God; yet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although He make it not to grow.” 2 Samuel 23:5
“There is a difference between humility and self-condemnation. When we fail with our children, we ought to examine our ways and own our failures before the Lord. But repentance is more than owning that we have failed in certain areas; it is recognizing that everything about us in the flesh is bad. Condemning ourselves for what we have done is to remain focused on the wrong object. Do we believe that, given a second chance, we will do better? Let us rather fall back on the grace of God to do what we cannot do, and let us in humility accept the consequences of our failures, counting on God to bring blessing.
“There is also God’s sovereign side of the matter to consider. He has a sovereign plan of blessing for all those whom He has called, and nothing will hinder His blessing. He is able even to bring good out of evil. King David spoke of this when he realized he had not kept his house in a just and orderly way. He said, ‘Although my house be not so with God; yet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although He make it not to grow’ (2 Sam. 23:5). David recognized his failure, but like Hannah, he held in faith to the promise of God to bless his house; at the same time, he was submissive to wait until it was God’s time to make it grow. May the Lord give us this patience of faith in Him.”
D. Buchanan. “For This Child I Prayed” The Christian Jan 2010.