Grace, not easily understood, and often overlooked, grace is been said to be the unmerited favor and blessing of God. It’s something every Christian understands as the movement of salvation. “For by grace….”*  But that is not all there is to grace. Grace is power, energy, fluid movement, unforced rhythm, persistent and patient. Perhaps a little like a ballerina on fire.

Dancing to the unforced rhythms of grace will set your life on fire.

If you look up grace in the Bible you will come up with pages of scriptures. It’s a greeting. It’s a blessing. It’s our employee. Wait, our employee?

Brash, excitable Peter encouraged all Christians to employ grace. He was older and wiser when he wrote these words. He had learned a few things. ”Each of you has received a gift (a particular spiritual talent, a gracious divine endowment), employ it for one another as [befits] good trustees of God’s many-sided grace [faithful stewards of the extremely diverse powers and gifts granted to Christians by unmerited favor].” **

If you were a supervisor, manager or owner of a company, how would you employ grace? No, I  don’t mean the Grace that lives down the street. I mean grace, the kind that only comes from God.

The word employ, according to Webster’s dictionary means to to make use of. So, how would you as a person in charge of a business make use of grace?

If grace is the power of God, the fluid movement, the unforced rhythms of God, think what employing it to its full potential could do for your company, aka your church or ministry, the people within your sphere of influence or you.

Beyond that, what could the power, favor and blessing of God do for the kingdom of God? In actually, that’s why God gave us grace. He needs employees on the earth to make the most use of His grace possible.

The extremely diverse powers and gifts granted to us by the God of the universe were granted by grace. It’s a concept that’s difficult to understand. It’s like a heavenly part of the equation that blows everything to exponential proportions. We can’t describe grace because we have employed so little of it ourselves, just a piece at salvation. After that, we leave it alone.

Peter got it, though. Peter the quick to answer, hot-head for Jesus knew what grace was all about. He maybe more than all the disciples experienced God’s grace in the form of forgiveness.

It was the grace of forgiveness that captured his heart and soul and propelled him to see by employing the other aspects of the grace he and his fellow disciples could access all the fullness of God. They, together with grace were able to do the impossible.

He understood employing the many-sided benefits of grace to bring others into the Kingdom.

It’s the main purpose of grace. It’s not for me. It’s not for you. And yet it is for me and it is for you. It’s to accomplish the kingdom of God on the earth and give our lives meaning and purpose.

It happens as His people dare to believe that His power is movement, fluidity that flows through them to the world. Grace is the engine of God delivering everything we need to do His work here on earth.

When we open the door and agree to cooperate with God, the unforced rhythms of grace take over and do more than we could think or ask or imagine.

Personally, we can employ the many-sided facets of grace. Picture a perfectly cut diamond reflecting the light. Grace is like that, reflecting God’s light in a way that gives us the ability to accomplish whatever God wills.

Grace is why we’re here, what keeps us going even when we do something ridiculous that looks like we’re thumbing our noses at God. Grace draws us back, dusts us off and sets back in the right direction.

It’s a fluid motion that causes us to be swept up in it’s flow. It gives us gifts that make our movement and our purposes here on earth almost effortless. And when things crash to the ground, it’s grace that gently picks us up.

I can’t imagine living this life without the unfathomable depths of the grace of the almighty God.

Dancing to the unforced rhythms of grace cannot help but set your life on fire.

* Ephesians 2:8-9, KJV

**1 Peter 4:10, Amplified

Teresa Shields Parker

Teresa Shields Parker is a Christian weight loss author, coach, podcaster, and speaker, who has lost 250 pounds and kept it off since 2013. Her books include: “Reconnecting Jayne: Her Sister’s Support,” “Rebuilding Jayne: Her Father’s Protection,”  “Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds and Stopped Trying to Earn God’s Favor,” “Sweet Grace Study Guide,”  “Sweet Victory: Winning the Battle,” “Sweet Surrender: Breaking Strongholds,” “Sweet Journey to Transformation: Practical Steps to Lose Weight and Live Healthy”, “Sweet Freedom: Losing Weight and Keeping It Off With God’s Help,” “Sweet Freedom Study Guide,” “Sweet Change: True Stories of Transformation,” “Sweet Hunger: Developing an Appetite for God,” and “Sweet Excuses: Stop Lying to Yourself & Start Losing Weight.” She also offers Overcomers Christian Weight Loss Academy and VIP intensive coaching. Don’t miss her weekly podcast, Sweet Grace for Your Journey, where she shares tips from her personal journey of losing weight and discovering healthy living. Contact her at [email protected].