Listen
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age…. (Titus 2:11-12) (NIV)
Just a few years ago I was hit with the realization from these two verses that the same grace that has appeared offering salvation is the same grace that teaches me how to live out this new life! Verse 12 says, “It (grace) teaches…..”
I can remember thinking, “wow, I’m pretty sure I had the idea that this grace was about being saved, born-again, redeemed….not about walking it out day by day!”
I am now so grateful that this power is available each and every moment of each and every day!
But how then is it applied? How do I know the ways this grace will teach me to say “no” to ungodliness and worldly passion and to say yes to a life of self-control, upright and godly….
Practice and practice some more. Listen and listen some more. He speaks. And He speaks grace more and more.
I was reminded through a seemingly “unimportant” daily transaction this week. The wall clock in my office had stopped a couple months ago. How annoying it was to keep looking at the same time – 2:36 – and be struck between the eyes multiple times a day with the thought, “I need to change that battery!” And to then become involved doing something else….”I’ll do it later.”
Until finally a co-worker had enough and said, “I’ll change the battery.” And she did. And she put it back on the wall. The second hand moved for about twenty seconds and then stopped.
“Guess it wasn’t the battery. You’re going to have to buy another clock.”
Fast forward a few more weeks. Tuesday afternoon after work I was determined to get a few errands accomplished. I’m checking off the list in my head. Wall clock, at the top of the list. The thought came.
“Change the battery.”
Then a thought…”already did that, didn’t work.”
“Change the battery.”
The store I went to did not, in fact, have wall clocks. I made the other purchases and went to the car deciding then to go on home rather than go to another store.
“Change the battery.”
The next morning at the office…”oh well, why not, change the battery.” You guessed it. The clock started working and has continued just like it’s brand new!
Lesson? This may not mean much to just anyone, but to me, it was the “still small voice” of grace teaching me an important lesson. Too often Jane ventures out on yet another “to do list” that may or may not be necessary or even of greater significance, not God’s direction. Grace will continue to speak if I will just listen. And when “it” speaks, grace wants to teach me something.
The battery placed in the clock by my co-worker was, in fact, an old battery and had no life left. Grace was speaking. “Put new life into the situation and it will work.” Lesson: I had accepted what seemed a “hopeless” situation based on what someone else did and said….but “grace” said, “Change the battery.”
Now, do I wait to hear some still small voice for every action I take….no….but I certainly do not want to miss the lesson when it is grace teaching me. Open my ears, my mind, and my heart to hear that voice, especially when a “change” can bring life for such a “time” as this!
Jane Pfefferkorn
June 1, 2023