How many times have you heard someone say, “They are a natural.”  When they use it they are telling you that person is gifted in that skill or area and it looks like it comes easy for him or her. That may or may not be true but it seems there are quite a few things that can be natural for most of us. 

It’s natural to be anxious in a new situation unknown to us. It’s natural to jump at a sudden loud sound. It’s natural for us to feel uncertain when we approach an animal that is not ours. It’s natural for us to dislike going to see the dentist. It’s natural for us to get frustrated about traffic jams and delays and to be impatient about a great many things. It’s also natural for us to doubt and fear, feel discouraged and weary. 

But it’s also natural for us to rely on our lived experience to guide our choices and decisions year by year as we grow in knowledge and wisdom. It’s natural for us to feel more secure if we feel in control of a situation and ourselves in it.

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If you think about it you will likely think of your own more personal list of things that are natural for you.

My list includes living in the Midwest because except for brief periods of time, I have always done so. It’s natural for me to deal with four distinct weather seasons and change my clothes closet to accommodate the seasons. It’s natural for me to head out the door to church on Sundays because I have been taken to church since infancy and not to be in church on Sunday is decidedly unnatural for me. It’s natural for me to enjoy reading as a leisure activity as well. That would be just a few examples of what I consider natural for me.

Another thing that is natural for me is to feel I need to be responsible and do things the right way in the right time and always do my best no matter what. That may sound laudable but there are major glitches with that. None of us are able to do that all the time in every situation so in such times it can be natural to be discouraged and fall prey to negative self-talk.

How do these things play out for any one of us in our spiritual lives? 

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We tend to live in cultures that focus on our merit and what we earn or deserve. If that is true, what do we do with grace that is not natural at all?

Grace doesn’t fit with our thinking or mindset. It has nothing to do with merit or any good thing that might seem to come naturally to us. As a result, when we approach Christian faith there is a hurdle for us because we simply cannot wrap our minds around grace. It makes no sense to us and if we decide we want to believe in this offer from a perfect God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and have a tiny drop of faith to accept it, what happens with this lifelong habit of trying to do right (especially if we have received such a magnanimous gift)?

What happens for far too many is we try hard to be as perfect as we believe God wants us to be and get confused about how grace works after we initially say yes to it. Perhaps that’s why Paul is so passionate in Romans 8. He was aware of all his mistakes and knew even after Damascus Road and his encounter with Jesus that he would never be able to be all he should be. The last verses of this pivotal chapter should encourage us all.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[a]neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)

I revisit those verses often when I am aware that I have once more messed up. There is also another quote I found helpful when I read it first in 1998:

“Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”

Jerry Bridges from The Discipline of Grace

Make no mistake about it, the enemy of our souls knows grace is not natural and doesn’t want us to appropriate it first or live by it after we do. 

God doesn’t forget us or go back on his promises. If you accept his grace, He will continue to help shape your character and path because He knows what we sometimes have trouble accepting – our natural gifts, skills, resources, knowledge and wisdom will never get us to where we are meant to be.

“Next time you face the unexpected, a moment of difficulty you really don’t want to go through, remember that such a moment doesn’t picture a God who has forgotten you, but one who is near to you and doing in you a very good thing. He is rescuing you from thinking that you can live the life you were meant to live while relying on the inadequate resources of your wisdom, experience, righteousness, and strength; and he is transforming you into a person who lives a life shaped by radical God-centered faith. He is the ultimate craftsman, and we are his clay. He will not take us off his wheel until his fingers have molded us into those who really do believe and do not doubt.” 

Paul Tripp

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