Wall of Faith: Jennifer - Grace Under Fire

A friend of mine. (“Cough, cough. Mindy. Cough, clear throat”) brought to my attention some time ago about her friend Grace. She was always talking how much she loved her friend, Grace. “Grace this. Grace that. Grace. Grace. Grace…” It took time for me to fully understand her friend, Grace. You can’t tell a book by it’s cover would definitely apply here.

I agree that Grace was nice and very sweet, yet to me seemed she seemed like a bit of a pushover.  When I felt there should be justice done in a situation, she forgave and let go. I mean… really?’

Then one day I welcomed ‘Brother Bitterness’ and ‘Sister Shoot’em-Between-the Eyes’ into my home.’ Brother Bitterness’ always had this uncanny way of making me feel very satisfied and vindicated. I must admit the quick quips of ‘Sister Shoot’em-Between-the Eyes’ were so clever and very funny. She made me laugh! They had a way of  making me feel protected and justified.
However, I did notice, the longer they stayed in my home the more they wore out their welcome. My home got messier and more chaotic and never felt peaceful anymore. I began to discover that not only was I getting hurt by them, but so were  loved ones that were the closest to me. It took a lot of work, but eventually I implored to my’ Landlord’ to evict them and to send them on their merry way.

I started having Grace over more often and found that she was a lot stronger than I realized. She could wait endless amounts of time for people and situations to change. That took way more inner strength than I ever thought, but the fruits of her patience gave her much more peace and satisfaction than ‘Brother Bitterness’ and ‘Sister Shoot’em Between-the-Eyes’ ever did for me. I began to realize that her patience allowed time for truth to eventually be revealed resulting in a more complete and efficient end result.

My home is less chaotic and more peaceful since I started to get to know Grace more. I find my mind is more at peace as well. I now see that the self-satisfaction I felt from ‘Brother Bitterness’ and ‘Sister Shoot’em-Between-the-Eyes was really empty and false. Deep down it only grew a root of guilt and self-disdain.

As with any friendship I know I will need to continue to get to know Grace better. I still have ‘Brother Bitterness’ and ‘Sister Shoot’em Between-the-Eyes try to get their foot into my front door. Persistent little things, they are. They even try to change their approach and appearance almost fooling me into letting them in. Sometimes I have fallen prey to their wiles.

The more I become familiar with Grace’s voice and let her be the center of conversation, the more she has this miraculous way of drowning out the voices of the other two. I am so glad our paths crossed and so thankful for how patiently she has waited for me to finally welcome her friendship.

“In the war between Guilt and Grace, Grace wins every time!” (Matthew West “Grace Wins”)

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