Monday Moment: The Hammock

My grace is enough; it's all you need.

- 2 Corinthians 12:9, The Message

I never really understood why some people love hammocks. Not really. As a kid, I was skeptical that a little string suspended between two trees would be enough to hold me. I'm too squirmy. Too accident-prone. Too feet-on-solid-ground type of a girl. As friends piled in a hammock and the rope stretched and groaned, I sat on my very comfortable blanket, thank you very much, waiting for a loud SNAP and falling bodies. Oddly enough, it never came.

On my recent hideaway vacation at Holly Hill, I stumbled upon a hammock. Huh. Looked so peaceful. So restful. Maybe it was time to attempt it. I sneaked up to it and rehearsed my hammock-mount in my mind. I could do this. I tried easing on. Ha. I tried rolling in. Ha. Finally, I dove onto the rope. Well, whatdaya know. All this time I thought hammocks weren't strong enough... stable enough... sure enough... to easily accommodate a questioning, callow klutz like myself. I was wrong, and I'd been missing out.

Sometimes I wonder if we don't view God's grace - His unmerited favor, love, and mercy - the same way I viewed the hammock. I mean, we know it's there... God's grace. And we know its purpose is to hold us up... to cradle us as we give ourselves over to its support. We understand the concept of grace, we just don't see how it will work for us. Besides, in the face of who we know ourselves to be... in the full knowledge of our faults, our weaknesses and our habits... we look at the idea of God's grace - the "rope" strung between our feet and God's - and back away. No way that's going to work, we think. No way that barely-there stuff can hold me.

And so we hang off to the side. Don't we? We sit on blankets of our own strength (our medicines, our muscles, our money, our minds) and watch as others enjoy the benefits of God's grace. And we wait. We wait for God's grace to snap and the silly people suspended on nothing but God's goodness to fall. But... it doesn't. They don't. And the strange thing is, the more people who climb on, the farther God's grace stretches.

Point here is this: you may think you've built a reasonably solid life on your own. And you probably have. But one day you'll come face-to-face with the possibility of resting in God's grace. One day you'll have a choice between sitting where you're comfortable or resting in God's almighty hand. Maybe you'll be sick. Maybe you'll experience loss. Maybe your world will crumble around you. Or maybe you'll just feel a little hopeless. A tiny bit alone. And although the concept of the hammock... of God's grace... looks a little iffy, you might one day decide to give it a try. And know what you'll find? That God's favor... His love... and His mercy is strong enough... stable enough... and sure enough... to easily accommodate a questioning, callow klutz like yourself.

How can I be so sure? Because it's been true in my life - God's promise that His grace is enough. Wherever you are and whatever you face, He promises His grace is enough. And I'll bet you He's right.

I'll bet you a swing on a hammock.

My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness." Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become. - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Monday Moment is a devotional to help kick-start your week. See you again next Monday!