A movement, is usually started by a person or people, who are working together to advance their shared ideas, be it political, social or even artistic. When Martin Luther King Jr started the movement against racism in America, he was sharing his idea of equality and unity of people of every race. There have been many movements around the world, against structural institutions, injustices and war (violence). What then is the movement of Grace?

The movement of grace was began thousands of years ago, which many people like mother Teresa carried out, and countless people continue to spread the word about this movement. We can read about this movement in the big book of many books, called the Bible. This book has records of promises and prophecies made about a certain man who was going to come and make all things new. In the New Testament (NT), this man, Jesus, showed us the meaning of grace. Looking at one of the books in the Bible, I came across chapter 15 of Luke.

The chapter begins with the tax collectors and sinners all gathering around Jesus to hear him. Now the Pharisees and teachers of the law complained that “this man welcomes sinners, and eats with them’. When I read this, I just wanted to laugh, because there are so many Pharisees in the world today. Why would I say that? There’s no need to go too far to look for examples. How many of us see people that need saving, and we pray for them to get salvation, but are not willing to associate with them? How can you pray for them, yet at the same time condemn them? Do you judge people before praying for them? Do you first condemn them before offering them salvation? Where does grace fall?

Jesus heard what these people were muttering, and he began by telling them parables of the lost sheep, where the shepherd will leave 99 sheep in the field, just to look for the lost sheep. To the shepherd, that lost sheep is vulnerable and needs rescuing than the already protected 99 sheep. He also talked about a woman with 10 silver coins, and loses one. She will lit the lamp just to look for that one. Finally, he tells them the story of the father and his two sons, where the youngest asked the father to give him his inheritance, which he went and spent on absolutely nothing (meaning; parties, women) and was broke. He went below the lowest person, to the point of eating pig food. However, he discovers who he was and decides to go home and humble himself and find work at his father’s place even as a servant. When he gets home, his father sees him and throws a party, welcoming him back home and reinstating him to his position as son. From these three stories, we can see that the shepherd was giving the sheep a second chance in life, in case he finds it, so was the woman with the lost coin and finally the father.  The father’s words were “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” vs 24.

How many of us have stories of moments we felt like all was done for, but miraculously, things were turned around for us, giving us a second shot at life? Jesus sitting with these sinners showed us how to live. He showed us what grace is, so that we are able to show that grace to others who don’t deserve it. Jesus reached out to those who were lost, showing them love and inclusions, letting them know there’s an alternative to their lifestyles. Jesus died on the cross for us who deserve to die, but he died so that we could have a second chance before God.  How many people have you stopped talking to, because they hurt you or looked down on you, or questioned what you believed in or destroyed the trust you had for them, when you first met? I am guilty as charged, but I am learning to put aside my pride and feelings, and concentrate on the work Jesus has called me to. I am learning to forgive and hold no grudges, as well as embrace people with their differences and also praying that the Jesus in me will overcome the human nature in me.

The movement of grace is not about preaching the word of God alone, but it is found in the ways we live our lives with one another. How much grace do you show to someone who has hurt you? Have you not hurt others before? Didn’t Jesus love you and forgave you without you even asking him for forgiveness? What you expect to hear from that person, might never come, but Jesus is waiting for you to do what he would do. That is why he taught us a lifestyle of humility. When we lay down our guard and look at those people or that person with the grace that Jesus looked at us with, then we offer them grace through our own lifestyles. How can I share the movement of grace when I am unable to forgive my neighbour? How can I tell people of his love when I can’t love the ones in the same room with me? Grace is not something we earn, but it is a free gift. Grace is a gift of God through Jesus who loved you and me enough to die for your sins and my sins. It is not earned, but is simply love from above. You don’t deserve it and and I don’t deserve it, yet we have been granted grace. So why don’t you show that to that person you no longer speak to?

Prostrating before God and letting go everything is one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had in worship. When we seek God with all our hearts, do we go down on our knees; lay flat on our stomachs or do we sit on comfortable beds, sit on cushioned seats (not that anything is wrong with them)? If you have never had the experiences of lowering yourself like a dog, then I suggest you should try sometime. In the Old Testament (OT), we are told stories of people like Esther, Daniel, Ezekiel, David and many others, who took off their clothes and wore torn sack clothes, to go before God. This was in situations beyond their control, and they went to seek for his intervention. I was fascinated with David, who after understanding the full impact of his sin with Bethsheba, prostrated before God for three days without food or drink. When the child died, he got up and ate. PUZZLING. I was fascinated with him, because he laid flat on his stomach with his face to the floor, praying and I am guessing asking for God’s forgiveness for the atrocity he has committed, along with the crime of adultery. He should his hopelessness and inability to fix the damage he has done. God heard him and forgave him, at a price.

As I prostrated myself before God with the heaviness on my heart for the things I could not understand, tears from nowhere came rushing like a fountain that has been blocked for years. I was surprised to find tears and pain swelling up inside of me, because a few minutes earlier, I had been listening to music, dancing around my room and thinking over my life. The moment, I laid on my side, the tears started without me evoking them. When I turned flat on my stomach on the floor, not caring what was on that floor, they floods could not stop. I then realized what was happening. My inability to fix what was going on in my life, was being laid before God, because no one would know that this was the burden I was carrying, when all they ever see is smiles on my face.

I asked God to make my path straight, because I was confused in my walk. I was lost and feeling alone in dealing with my relationships in my personal life. In all honesty, I just wanted to give up everything and cut everyone out of my life, especially when it comes to the man I love. As I laid there before God pouring out my heart to him, God reminded me that he is also hurting and lost just as I am. I really didn’t want to hear it, because I have been hurt so many times and have forgiven so many times. When God reminded me over and over that he was also hurting, that made me realized that he too is struggling just like me. He has been telling me to give him time, but I didn’t understanding how much time, because I was thinking of all that we have been through and it looks like I was the only one who learnt much from our struggles.

I told God that I won’t stop prostrating before him every day till he has given me an answer to what I need to do next. This man did not come into my life because I wanted him, but because he fulfilled a promised I made with God at the age of 18. After laying there for close to 30 minutes, I got up and took my Bible out. I have been reading through the book of Luke, and yesterday morning I read chapter 12. So after praying last night, I took out my Bible and opened chapter 13. As I read the chapter, Verse 6-9 stood out to me. Jesus told the parable of a fig tree that wasn’t bearing fruit after 3 years and the man wanted to cut it down. So he told the man who took care of it to cut it down, but the man said “Sir… leave it alone for one more year and I will dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.” This to me was my leading answer that I believe Jesus has given me. I felt like I was the man who owns the fig tree and wants to cut it down. Jesus however is telling me to give it one more year.

You might take it as a coincidence, but I take it as an answer because people in the Bible got their prayers answered. My next question was, ‘how will I go about this LORD? I need you to show me the right path to follow. I don’t want to mess up your plan with my emotions and feelings. Now that you have told me to wait, how am I supposed to wait without getting too impatient?’ God is the same yesterday in the OT and today and forevermore.