Failing of the Grace of God

Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

Hebrews 12:15

There are many disgruntled, hurt, bitter, disillusioned and angry people in this world. Many have gone through situations where a remark was made, an action misplaced or a misunderstanding occurred that led to the problem. Sadly, many Christians are also in this category of being disgruntled, hurt, bitter, disillusioned and angry. For the unbeliever without the part of Christ in his life, he is doomed to this condemnation of what such feelings can do to an individual. Many are depressed, antisocial, drunkards, or abusers of their families. However, God provides a Christian the remedy for these spiritual ailments – His grace. Paul highlights the reason why some believers are no longer walking with God.

They fail of the grace of God. God’s grace is given to us in every situation to meet every need. There is no need for God to do so because we are sinners, and unwilling to submit to Him, but He still provides the grace, help, resources and abilities that we need to get through each trial and test. Yet, many believers fail and fall short of fully allowing God’s grace to intervene and assist them to overcome the stress and weakness in their lives. A tragedy happens and their hearts lament and ask the Lord, “Why it must happen to me?” This is normal. However, they begin to be angry at God, and they ask themselves now, “Why?” There is a choice in this situation: believe the Lord has a plan and continue in the faith, or be bitter in the tragedy. It may be during this time of thinking and decision that a message comes through a struggling Christian’s mobile phone to encourage him to trust in the Lord; a friend, who after listening, tells him to trust in the Lord and to pray; when he reach es home, his daughter shouts “Dada!” and throws herself into his arms. God would have provided three avenues for this Christian to experience His grace, but if he is unable to see this, he has failed of the grace of God.

A root of bitterness will spring up within you. When a trial surfaces that forces us to decide against God’s will and word, we will (at that moment) fail to realize God’s provision for assisting our escape. A root of bitterness can grow within you. This root of bitterness manifests itself in rejecting people, being irritable and unfriendly, or it can lead to hypocrisy as we know what is right but we are adamant to go the opposite way of truth. It is rooted in selfishness, pride, unforgiveness and a failure to trust the Heavenly Father.

Many will be defiled. The saddest and most glaring part of these verses speaks of a time when we are unable to control ourselves in submission to the grace of the Lord and we become bitter. This bitterness springing out of us will defile many people. The word “defile” means “to contaminated a life.” Though unintentional, our carrying of our bitterness will ultimately affect someone else in our families, our lives, the place we work in and everyone will meet.

Believer, do realize God’s grace is available every moment of the day for us? May we learn to depend on Him and pay attention to the grace He offers.

Written by: Pastor Johnny Tan
Edited by: Timothy Lee
Image Credit: Gideon Tsang, Flickr