Grace, Solitude, and Accuracy

It seems like there are three common themes right now in my life: grace, solitude, and accuracy.

Grace:
I'm intrigued by the fact that grace is something I am learning so much about right now.  I'm enjoying it immensely.  Especially because I am hearing so many different ways of describing it that are helping me grasp more fully how little I can understand it!  For example, today, one of my instructors was talking about grace and he initially gave the definition I have always heard, "Unmerited favor." But I struggle with understanding what that actually means.  This instructor went on to describe grace as having nothing to do with what we bring to the table.  We cannot barter with God.  We cannot offer Him something He doesn't already have.  Grace is His freely giving us something we truly do not deserve.  That really painted a picture for me that made so much sense as far as defining the term.  But it also showed me how much I can never understand why God would choose to give me something so wonderful as eternity in heaven with Him.  I am also studying the book of I John on my own.  I had never really considered how grace tied into this book, which happens to be one of my favorites.  And then today happened.  The book I am using to assist in my study of I John was discussing eternal life and how it is something we cannot earn.  The author used very similar language to my instructor to describe the gift of eternal life.  It was awesome.  And it also ties into the next one...

Solitude:
Obviously solitude has been on my mind.  I wrote an entire post devoted to the idea.  But it continues to be important.  One of my classes is on the life of king David.  The required reading is from a Charles Swindoll book, "David: A Man After God's Own Heart." Good book.  Anyway, the author discusses the concept of solitude, time alone with God, time to examine our lives.  And it ties in nicely with grace for two reasons.  The first is that God chose David to be king out of all the people of Israel.  And from the perspective of those around him, it probably didn't seem like David was that great of a choice.  But he knew the importance of solitude.  He knew the significance of time spent alone with God in making his way through life.  And God rewarded him for that.  The second reason this ties into grace is that when we allow ourselves time in solitude, God uses that time to draw us closer to Himself and to teach us.  My Utmost for His Highest today included this statement: "Jesus can expound nothing until we get through all the noisy questions of the head and are alone with Him." He doesn't have to be patient with us and the questions we constantly pelt Him with, but He is.  He doesn't have to teach us anything, but He does.  We don't deserve these things apart from His gift to us of salvation.  And then once we have accepted His leadership in our lives, He calls us away to times of private communion, intimate communion, so that we can hear Him speak.  But the important thing to remember is to be still in these times.  To get away from the noise and the hubbub of life but also to leave behind our questions and just let Him speak.  Stop asking "why" and "what are you doing?" He may answer those questions, but it is only in the truly quiet moments where our hearts are ready for Him that we hear His answers.  He doesn't shout from the rooftops; He speaks in a still small voice.  The whisper of which can only be heard when we are willing to squeeze in close to Him.

Accuracy:
The third major theme right now is accuracy.  There's something in me that hates it when people fudge the facts to make the story more palatable.  Probably my biggest pet peeve where this is concerned would be with teaching Bible stories to kids.  Sometimes we fudge the details to make the story more interesting.  Example: David and Goliath is often taught to children with David being a little squirt.  Makes him more releasable to kids, I guess.  But it's not completely accurate.  Other times, we fudge details because we don't want to, I guess, damage kids.  Example: David and Goliath is often taught to children without mentioning what exactly David did to Goliath after he killed the giant (he cut off Goliath's head and took it to Jerusalem).  Now, these may not seem like a big deal, but let me tell you my reaction to reading the story of David and Goliath from the Bible myself for the first time and maybe you'll understand better what I mean.  I remember a Sunday school teacher telling my class once that God did not allow David to build the temple because he was a man of war.  I was confused because David didn't seem all that warrior-like from the stories I heard growing up.  So I read about him for myself.  And I was shocked to find out just how brutal he had been.  I began to question why David was always painted in such a light as the poet, shepherd king.  Frankly, I found a lot more respect for the dude after finding out who he really was.  Something about the image of a little boy who watched sheep and sang and played the harp didn't really resonate with me.  It wasn't anything to do with being mild-mannered, by the way.  It was the fact that he seemed kind of like a weakling painted in the light he was.  Mild-mannered and passive are two different things, in my opinion.  Someone can be mild-mannered but still stand up in the thick of things to fight when needed.  Someone who is passive doesn't fight even the important battles.  David was always painted in a passive light in the stories I heard growing up.  And that made him less relatable to me, not more as I think the writers intended. 
Let's take another example.  Jesus is often painted in a rather passive light in children's stories.  There's no mention of the fact that He made a whip out of cords and drove money changers out of the temple.  Or, my personal favorite, the fact that when a "detachment of troops" and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees came to arrest Jesus, He knocked them all over simply by saying, "I am He." Admittedly, the awesomeness of this needs a little explaining... So, a detachment of troops would be a group of Roman soldiers ranging from 200-1000 men.  Roman soldiers are still known for having been well-trained, battle-hardened men, so we're not talking about a small group of wimps here.  The officers from the chief priests and Pharisees would have been the guards or police of the Jewish officials.  So they come to arrest Jesus.  He asks them, "Whom are you seeking?" They tell Him, "Jesus of Nazareth." All He says is, "I am He." John18:6 tells us: "Now when He said to them, 'I am He,' they drew back and fell to the ground." Remember, this is a group of highly trained, well-equipped, tough guys who just fell to the ground because of His power in being God.  But we don't teach this to our children.  I was 20 years old before I knew this, and I grew up in the church, I read my Bible, I had godly parents who sought to teach me truth.  But no one ever shared this part of the story with me.  I heard lots of time how Jesus paid attention to children and loved on them.  This was important, certainly, but how can we possibly expect our children to tap into the power of Jesus Christ if we don't tell them that power exists?
Just as I was disillusioned by the idea that David was a warrior and I didn't know about it, so I found myself saddened by the fact that while I certainly knew Jesus was powerful, I didn't understand the extent to which He could have gotten away.  He didn't passively go with the arresting authority.  But He didn't fight them either.  He went with them in all the power and authority He possesses because He wanted us to be able to experience freedom and intimacy with Him.  He wanted us to want to glorify Him.  It's a lot easier to want to glorify Him when He isn't painted in a passive light.
Accuracy matters.

So I'm sorry if you feel I've been preaching again.  These are just the things that are near and dear to my heart right now, the things that are being played over and over again in my head and my heart through so many various forms.  I hope you find some encouragement in these things as I have.