The Courage to Receive Grace and Power

“Stephen, filled with grace and power,
was working great wonders and signs among the people…
All those who sat in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”
—Acts 6:8,15

If Stephen experienced any doubts, any crisis of faith about the words he was called to speak, we get no sign of it from scripture. He was “filled with the Spirit” from the first moment he appears in the story, right up through his prayer that God forgive his murderers as they are stoning him.

What a picture of faith.

I am beginning to see that all of us are regularly filled with grace and power. The difference between us and Stephen is that he never doubted that God was accomplishing his will through Stephen himself. We, on the other hand, don’t recognize the Spirit at work in us, or don’t have faith that the Spirit will abide in us when we do. We know our own foibles. We are sure that whatever God is moving us toward, we’re going to screw it up, and so we demur in our calling to be witnesses to what God is revealing in us.

Our faith in God, while stunted, is still true faith. But that faith does not come to fruition until we also believe in ourselves. God has anointed us for great work, to speak his word to the multitudes, to give our lives in devotion to him. The final barrier to love of God is to finally give ourselves over in faith that he does indeed love us just as we are, and can bring to life his very kingdom through our own meager words and deeds.

There is a danger, of course, in confusing our own will with the will of God and we should be ever-vigilant about this pitfall. But when we know the Spirit is at work, may we cease to doubt that the Spirit is at work in us, just now, just where we are.

Holy Spirit, when I look in the mirror, I don’t see the face of an angel. I don’t feel the courage of Stephen. I know my failures and my weaknesses. And yet…even through my brokenness, I see the great wonders and signs you are working for me, for my family, for my friends. You have commissioned me to be your disciple, to bring your kingdom to bear. Fill me with your grace and power, and I will follow. Amen.