Has anyone at church ever come up and told you when referencing our busy mom lives, by saying something like, “it’s the grace of God that you can do that…”, or “Gods grace is greater,” ? That always puzzled me, because what I was experiencing and living was a very busy life, working, raising three loves, wife-ing, studying, and cleaning, being tired, and sleep deprived, overwhelmed with a big to do list and not enough 1 hour time blocks on my daily iPhone calendar schedule to fit it all in. I would think, “yes, I know grace. Don’t I? Because Jesus loves me and took my sin and I’m going to be seated with Christ in heaven, that He paid it all, and I’m right with God now because of it… in heaven I’ll not have the crazy life… but how does that help me actually do the mom life, with Jesus, in the natural?”

Well, last week God showed me what this meant… what the Bible says about this, and golly- it was a true HALLELUJAH moment.

What is this Grace we learn about? Have you ever really asked yourself, what you believe Grace is, or do you see it working in your life today? I have always believed and understood Grace is what took Jesus to the cross. It pays for your sin, it is unmerited favor, it is getting goodness- what you don’t deserve- from the Holy God of the universe, righteousness before God because of Jesus.

I also learned something new for me (and very awesome) about grace…that it has two parts. The cross side of grace, (vertical, between you and God) and the resurrection side (horizontal, between you and God and the world around you). The cross side of grace is that grace I just mentioned… grace that comes to us through the cross of Christ, through Jesus dying on the cross and paying full penalty for our sin and debt, that we are redeemed and forgiven of all past, present and future sins- fully justified, as if we had never sinned.

The resurrection side of grace, is grace that comes through the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection side of grace gives us that new life and new power from God. That power that will fuel us in our mama lives. Jesus was raised to life from the dead, and so were we. We now have a new life, too, because we believe in Him.

Romans 6:4- “we were buried there for with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

Ephesians 2:5: even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved…”

Resurrection grace gives us that power that strengthens us to do anything and all things God has called us to do, things we could never do in our own strength, or will, or self determination.

Philippians 3:10: “that I may know Him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”

II Corinthians 12:9: But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Have you ever actually experienced this? A year ago, I would never have been able to do what I am doing now without completely being stressed to exhaustion, I’d have tapped out months ago. There’s a renewed energy now, and abundance, a hunger, a “keeping on.” The more I work as unto the Lord, ( NOT FOR HIM, I’m His daughter first. He called me to be His daughter, not a worker) listening to the Holy Spirit and following His instructions, instead of feeling zapped, I feel rejuvenated, ready for the next thing He has. The good work comes from the abundance of Jesus.

That’s the grace that I’m tapping into- the grace WE ALL can tap into… I’m focused on drawing from the well of grace, instead of trying to pour from my own strength and my own ability, knowing that God is supplying every need I have to do His plan and His will.

So as believers in Jesus, we have power from the grace of God, the God kind of power we need to do our lives as mamas. Power that is not in my own strengths, or my overstretched calendar of events, or my organization or time management skills, or my ability to front up and smile when I’m stressed inside, or my meal planning or Amazon shopping skills…we must give credit where credit is due. It’s the grace of God that fuels us. We don’t manufacture it, we just tap into it. We learn to draw from grace instead of our “empty cups.”We just thank Him for it, and put it to work for His kingdom, His kids, and His glory.