Grace and Effort
LETTER BY GRACE POUCH
Weird as they may be, the stories of Elisha the prophet are some of my favorites.
Take this episode in 2 Kings 3:
The kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom plan an attack on a neighboring nation by way of the desert. Seven days along, they run out of water. (Not a big surprise).
Even though their mission and their political alliance are morally questionable, God is sensitive to their needs, and Elisha reluctantly conveys this message from the Lord:
“Make this valley full of ditches… You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water… This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord…”
Some translations say “I will make this valley full of pools.”
Others phrase it as a command to the people: “Make this valley full of trenches.”
Scholars seem to be divided on whether the “maker” in the sentence is God or the people. What part is God’s and what part is theirs?
In the very next chapter (2 Kings 4), Elisha helps a poor widow on the brink of disaster. He tells her to go to every neighbor and ask for spare pottery, as many jars as she can possibly find. Then he tells her to take her last dribble of olive oil from the pantry and start pouring. The oil flows on and on, without running out, until the very last jar is filled.
I think there’s a pattern here: God asks people to prepare space, to make room. And then he gives an abundant, miraculous infilling. In the end, what the humans do is tiny compared to what God does — what only God can do.
Their part simply prepares them to receive a divine deluge.
It’s a beautiful picture of grace and effort — God’s gifts, received through disciplined cooperation.
Digging a ditch doesn’t earn you water.
Gathering jars doesn’t achieve oil.
Nor do such actions impress God. The labor God assigns is never arbitrary.
No, these efforts are a practical means for accepting what the Lord wants to supply and for maturing our trust.
Listen to the give and take in this verse: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. (Isa. 30:15 ESV)
We don’t have to climb some cosmic ladder to get to God. He’s available here and now. But turning to him is a volitional act.
Resting is easy. But settling ourselves down takes some work.
Effort and grace. Grace and effort.
That tension shines through in this message someone sent to us this week:
As I work my way through the From the Inside Out Journal [a Renovaré resource], I’m finding myself more uncomfortable, unsettled. The journal has led me to places and thoughts I try to circumnavigate… led me to review and question long-held, skewed and even inaccurate views about God and myself. It is a journal to be pondered as well as answered.
What’s our part?
Make this valley full of ditches… Work through resistance. Clear stuff away. Open your heart and lean in to listen. Ponder, answer, follow.
What’s God’s part?
Everything else.
He fills whatever space we offer — even a little crack — with himself. As we make space for him, he floods our lives with every good.
Grace Pouch
Content Manager
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LET’S DIVE IN...
CURATED BY GRACE POUCH
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1.
“We intend what is right, but we avoid the life that would make it reality.” In this excerpt from The Spirit of the Disciplines, Dallas Willard explains why resisting discipline makes us “miss the easy yoke and light burden.”
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2.
“Your own efforts did not bring it to pass, only God — but rejoice if God found a use for your efforts in His work.” Dag Hammarskjöld’s journals from his tenure as Secretary-General of the UN reveal a humble willingness to cooperate with God’s great activity in the world (shared recently here). I’m reading (and loving!) the biography, Hammarskjöld: A Life, by Roger Lipsey.
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3.
The book that helped millions understand discipline as a means of grace now has its own biography. (Did you know book biographies are a thing?!) Mimi Dixon’s book Worth Celebrating tells the story of Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline from its humble beginnings on a yellow legal pad to international best seller. We hope you’ll join us on June 23, 2024—in person in Atlanta, or by livestream webinar—for an afternoon of conversation with Mimi and Richard, hosted by Carolyn Arends, about the book that sparked a movement.
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4.
The “Nature Prayer Guide,” written by Vivianne David Foster, helps you make room for the Lord to come alongside you as you wander outdoors.
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5.
When resistance is fierce, the words of a Christian covenant or creed can be a simple way to recall God’s grace and recommit to cooperating with it. Here is some backstory from Richard Foster on the Renovaré covenant.
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6.
Trust doesn’t fall on our heads. It grows through effortful attention to God’s nearness and goodness. The examen is a way of “rummaging through a day’s experiences, looking for God.” Scroll down to “The Prayer of Examen” for a 10 – 30 minute guided exercise from Practicing the Way.
– Grace
WORTH QUOTING
“To experience the reality of Christ being formed in us does indeed take something like the travail of childbirth. But in the end it brings with it the joy of a life penetrated through by love, the faith that can see everything in the light of God’s overriding governance for good, and the hope to carry us through the most difficult of circumstances.”
– Richard J. Foster (source)
TO CONTEMPLATE
The Widow’s Oil
Unknown c. 1450
(source)
TO PONDER
Is there something you need right now? Peace, patience, courage, tenderness?
How might you prepare to receive and steward an outpouring of exactly what you need from the Lord?