Road Trip: Grace and Peace

Once we figured out which route to take (see Lost before we start) we were off. Six people, four being siblings 10 years of age and younger, strapped to their seats for over 17 hours. Many of us have those fond family road trip memories. "He touched me!" "She put her hand on my side of the car!" And of course the famous, "Are we there yet?"

A family road trip can be a bonding experience or it can be a national lampoon experience. In order to avoid the latter I gave everybody one rule for the trip that was to be our family mantra - Grace and Peace.

Grace - favor and kindness towards people - even when they do not deserve it.
Peace - harmony between people - no conflicts, contentment.

This was quite a tall order, however, I think we succeeded for the most part. There were a few times that irritation with each other showed as we were tired and road weary. However, a quick "grace and peace" reminder seemed to get us back on track.

Wouldn't it be great if "grace and peace" were that easy all the time, both with our families and with the whole world. Why is it that grace and peace don't abound in our world?

In order to have grace, you need to be willing to give it, even when the other person does not deserve it. In fact, the other person has to be undeserving for it to be considered "grace" in the first place. However, even if you can manage to extend grace, peace may or may not follow. Peace will depend on how the other person responds to your grace. Basically, just like the old saying that it takes two to tango when referring to fights; it also takes two to tango for grace and peace to abound.

So is there no hope?

The hope is in the grace that God has already extended to us. The grace extended is the opportunity for peace with God through His Son, Jesus Christ, even though we've done nothing to deserve it. One day every knee will bow and grace and peace will then abound. Why not bow your knee now and experience the peace that comes from God's grace today?

Philippians 2:9-11 (ESV)
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.