“A happy saint is one who is at the same time aware of the severity of sin and the immensity of grace. Sin is not diminished, nor is God’s ability to forgive it. The saint dwells in grace, not guilt. This is the tranquil soul.”- Max Lucado
“But all these thing that I once thought very worthwhile — now I’ve thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and hope in Christ alone.”- Philippians 3:7 (TLB)
Max Lucado continues Chapter 3 of Anxious for Nothing as he reflects on Paul’s Damascus road experience. Pastor Lucado notes that once Paul saw Jesus, he couldn’t see any more. And for the apostle Paul, that meant more than the loss of physical sight. In addition, Paul no longer saw value in his resume, merit in his merits, or worth in his good works. Instead, Max states, Paul saw only one option. To spend the rest of his life talking more about Jesus and less about himself.
Pastor Lucado summarizes:
“He [Paul] became the great poet of grace. . . . Paul gave his guilt to Jesus. Period. He didn’t numb it, hide it, deny it, offset it, or punish it. He simply surrendered it to Jesus.”
As a result, Max exhorts, courage sprouts out of the fertile soil of God’s grace. Mercy snaps our guilt chains, setting us free. While guilt frenzies the soul, the antidote of grace calms it. Great sinners depend upon great grace. There, Pastor Lucado notes, we find a forgiveness that is too deep to be plumbed, too high to be summited.
In conclusion, Max encourages:
“In the great trapeze act of salvation, God is the catcher, and we are the flyers. We trust. Period. We rely solely on God’s ability to catch us. And as we do, a wonderful thing happens: we fly.”
Today’s question: How does the immensity of grace produce a tranquil soul? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Perpetual anxiety versus limited anxiety”
