I saw a man patiently waiting, or as best I could read him with his body language, and so I offered to help and he informed me that he was just waiting on grace. With my limited understanding and limited information, I figured his wife or daughter would appear at any time, you know, the one named Grace.
As I reflect on that moment now, I have come to reckon that he was referring to God, maybe an unanswered prayer or which door to enter through in our life choices. And in that I must tell you that I am so grateful that God is not the fairy Godmother granting my every one of my heart’s desires! What a lost and more spoiled puppy I would be, and what a hot mess!!
But what is this thing called grace? When we read the word “grace“(χάρις) In the Holy Scripture it has different meanings. St. Macarius the Great writes: “Grace is the name given to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit which have been sent to the Church of Christ. The signs accompanying grace are much joy, peace, love, and truth. Such truth impels man to seek truth. But the signs of sin are accompanied by turmoil, not joy and love toward God."
We also heard the word “grace” today used as mercy in the Epistle reading in Ephesians 2: 8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; the gift is of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” which is understood as the entire process of our salvation with the coming of the Son of God to earth, by His earthly life as a man, His death on the Cross, His Resurrection, and His Ascension into heaven!
Sometimes “grace” which is the power sent down from on high which perfects, gives life, gives birth and empowers us when our hearts have been opened to growth just as plants need rain and light. As the Apostle Paul tells us: Therefore, my beloved, even as ye always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much rather in mine absence, be working out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is the One Who energizeth in you both to will and to energize for the sake of His good pleasure.” [Phil. 2:12-13] St. Mark the Ascetic writes: “Grace has been given mystically to those who have been baptized into Christ; and it becomes active within them to the extent that they actively observe the commandments. Grace never ceases to help us secretly; but to do good - as far as lies in our power - depends on us.” (No Righteousness by Works no. 61)
The writer of Romans writes: “For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?” [Rom. 8:24] Saint Chrysostom comments: “‘We were saved by hope’ (th/| gar ejlpivdi evswvqhmen). And this is what he is saying: We are not to seek our all in this life, but also to have hope. For this is the only gift that we brought in to God, that we believed Him in what He promised should come, and by this path alone were we saved. If then we lose this hope, we have lost all that was of our own contributing.” [Hom. 14, P.G. 60:584 (col. 532).]
He who calls there self a Christian, says Saint Symeon the New Theologian, "if he does not bear in his heart the conviction that the grace of God, given for faith, is the mercy of God…if he does not labor with the aim of receiving the grace of God, first of all through baptism, or if he had it and it departed by reason of his sin, to cause it to return again through repentance, confession, and a self-belittling life, and if, in giving alms, fasting, performing vigils, prayers, and the rest, he thinks that he is performing glorious virtues and good deeds valuable themselves–then he labors and exhausts himself in vain" (Homily 2).
St. Symeon the New Theologian wrote the following: "if the thought comes to you, instilled by the devil, that your salvation is accomplished not by the power of God, but by your own wisdom and your own power, and if your soul agrees with such thought, grace departs from it. The struggle against such a powerful and most difficult battle which arises in the soul must be undertaken by the soul until our last breath. The soul must, together with the blessed Apostle Paul, call out in a loud voice, in the hearing of angels and men: "not I, but the grace of God which is with me."
So perhaps by waiting on grace we are seeking a blessing as we live this life in the footsteps of Christ, denying the worldly choices. Let me end with these words of wisdom from St. John of Kronstadt: “What is grace? It is the blessed power of God, the power that cleanses, sanctifies, enlightens, that helps in doing good and withdraws from evil, that comforts and gives courage in misfortunes, sorrows, and sickness; that is a pledge of receiving the everlasting blessings, prepared by God in heaven for His chosen ones. “As breathing is necessary for the body, and without breathing a man cannot live, so without the breathing of God's Spirit a soul cannot live the genuine life." (My Life in Christ)
Fr. Gabriel Weller 11-18-2025
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