What’s a Grace Space?

A Grace Space is how God sees the places where we are still learning and growing

in our experience of Him.  It’s where we discover that our process of maturity

will occur the same way we were saved: by grace through faith.

On the day you were saved, you didn’t understand everything about God. You encountered Him, believed who He said He was, received Him and learning who He really was and who you really are in Him began!  

Our faith is still required in believing that His grace really is enough for the process of becoming more and more like Him.  His grace is indeed “unmerited favor,” we can’t earn it for sure. But it is also His empowering presence for us to become everything He already sees us to be in Jesus. 

God understands that those “I can’t believe I did that!” moments in life are often followed by feelings of fear: fear of failure, fear of rejection… because that’s what we’ve experienced with people before.  Fear is one of the tell-tale fruit of legalism that tries harder to do better for God’s acceptance. There is no fear in love (1 John 4:18).

Shame rides the coattails of fear, so we employ the survival tactic of hiding. It’s as old as the Garden of Eden. But so is the grace, kindness and goodness of God that comes looking for us and waits for one reason: to be gracious and merciful. (Isaiah 30:18)

We hide in so many ways and God has compassion for us in them all. He sees us as we applaud a victorious testimony, hoping our own cracks don’t show.  He has compassion as we try to hold our image together by making resolutions, taking another class and getting more likes on social media. And when we stay in the shadows, afraid to risk and be seen, He hopes His kindness will give us confidence to come to Him instead. 

So many people feel ashamed and exhausted from trying-harder-to-do-better-for-God.

And in that place, Jesus whispers,

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?

Come to Me.

Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.

I’ll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with Me. Learn how I do it. 

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. 

Keep company with me and

you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” 

Matthew 11:28-30 The Message Bible.

God asks us to have faith in all that He is and all that He is in us.  He wants to take our hand and walk with us through our Grace Spaces as a shared, relational experience.  As He talks to our heart and through His word, His perfect love begins to dissolve our fears of failure and rejection. Jesus smiles and says,

“Instead of feeling condemned, let’s be curious instead.

What is it you are believing about Me and about yourself

that caused you to make that choice?”

That’s grace overcoming shame so we can learn and grow feeling safe and loved at all times.

The grace spaces between what we believe and who we are still becoming hold the most powerful relational learning with God.  It’s where we learn by experience that we don’t earn our relationship with Him. We receive it and then respond to Him!

So if any of this is familiar to you, take a moment to quiet your heart. Hear the kindness of the Holy Spirit as He says: “I see the pain and fear that caused you to choose the survival tactic of hiding.  I see you, I hear you and I understand it was hard. I am so glad to be with you in it, right here, right now.  And I can be your Helper and love you until My love begins to overwhelm your fear and your trust grows. Until you know, I really am this good, this trustworthy.”

“That journey will be beautiful,” He continues, “but please remember. I love you absolutely and completely, right here, right now in this space.”

A Grace Space: 

100% free, unearned gift of God’s favor. 

100% His empowering presence in you every day, 

hand and hand as He leads the way.

Shame keeps us from connecting with God and each other for fear of being seen. Grace and faith empower us to say with thanksgiving, “I’m not yet all of who I will become, but every day I’m encountering more of who He really is and who I really am.” 

That’s the sound of freedom and hope in a Grace Space.

~ Allison