presence, another power moving forward.
Grace is never passive. It arms you with questions:“ What can flesh do to me?” Grace delivers reality by restoring God and people to their proper place.
Grace drills down to motives.“ In what do I trust, right here, right now? Where is God in this story I’ m telling myself?” Grace-infused questions, like a faithful sentry, halt our fear by checking its passport.“ By what authority,” grace investigates,“ do you come to this mind with this message?”
Fear requires a passport to roam freely within our mind. What did you name? For fear to take root, you must first permit it safe passage to pillage your soul. But grace denies fear its passport, and instead turns and waves through God’ s promises.
Notice that David’ s mind is the first battlefield. When he is afraid, preoccupied, distracted, anxious, worried, bothered, nervous, fretting, besieged, how will he think?“ I will put my trust in God.” His situation has not changed. Saul is still crazy, and David’ s life is still threatened. But a monumental, life-transforming decision has been made. David will look to God despite his circumstances. He will trust God.
Sometimes we over-spiritualize grace. We think grace invades the beaches of our fears with overwhelming firepower to liberate us from oppression. But grace is less like a tank division and more like a surgical strike. Grace spotlights God. It reaches past our fears, touches the chin, and tilts our gaze upward. Grace sparks faith, which fires our determination. This is what grace-fired determination sounds like:
•“ I put my trust in you.”
•“ I have confidence in God, whose word I praise.”
•“ Fear will not own me. In God I trust!”
Grace engages reason. It seeks to unmask the irrationality of fear— even legitimate fears. Grace puts God and people in perspective.“ What really can flesh do to me?” The question brings its answer along with it.“ And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the
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