As White As Snow.

Denbigh and I spent a few days this week on a spiritual retreat in Copper Mountain, Colorado. Our mentors in hospitality have been flying them up there for six years. The feed us, take us on snowy adventures, and spend hours in prayer with us. It is a gift. 

Doris, our hostess, asked a question of us. What was our primary message. Hers is forgiveness. Another person's was obedience. Mine is grace. Much of the time, people think about grace as this sweet thing that God gives us when we do bad things. I knew that mine was not a wishy washy message and so I prayed for a word picture for it. A few things came to mind over a period of days.

The next morning when I got up, there was a powerful snowstorm in the area. I watched as the snow seemed so furious in its falling. It limited all visibility and blanketed everything it touched with inches of thick powder. My mind drifted to Isaiah 1:18, which tells us that though our sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow. It sounds nice. What I realized watching snow is that this grace is intense. This covering is powerful and relentless. It covers everything.

Then, God gave me a phrase.

"His is a wild grace that throws itself on sin."

The second picture that came to my mind was of a man emerging with a gun. He points the gun at me. Then, another man throws his body in front of mine and takes the bullet that was meant for me. That's a wild grace. That's what we receive.


I'm wondering if you can have two main themes running through your life. I love another thing that makes grace display it's beauty, truth.