In 1911, a Sunday School teacher by the name of Julia Harriet Johnston wrote the words to what was to become a well-known Gospel song, "Grace Greater Than Our Sin," one of more than 500 songs she authored. As I was preparing to lead worship at the retirement retreat this past week, my chosen theme of "Grace and Gratitude" brought this song to mind. In particular, the third stanza reads,
"Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace
Freely bestowed on all who believe
All who are longing to see his face
Will you this moment his grace receive?"
These words got me to thinking about how often I've prayed this very prayer; "Lord, I just want to see your face; to really know you," only to come away feeling as empty and distant from Christ as I felt at the beginning of my prayers. Reading these words again made me wonder how often in my longing, I failed to believe in God's free grace bestowed. Jesus taught us that if we ask anything in his Name, believing, we would receive it. But it is certainly possible for us to ask without having any confidence that what we seek will actually be given. Longing to see Christ's face is not enough; I must choose to believe that God will actually bestow this grace upon me. It is a matter of believing my beliefs instead of my feelings.
Today I have had to acknowledge this failure as the sin it is, and confess it before the throne of grace. I am seeking Christ's face once more, but tonight, I am doing so confident that in God's mercy and goodness, he will actually reveal himself to me. Jesus said that when we pray, we are to believe that we have already received, because God is more ready to give than we are ready to ask and receive. So tonight I am praying, knowing that the answer is already on the way, and that my longing to see Christ; to really know him, will be fulfilled. As sign of this faith, I am already thanking him for revealing himself to me.
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