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Grace in the Grey

It would be nice if the world were always black or white, 
where issues and circumstances were either one way or the other, right or wrong, 
good or bad and so on...life just might be easier to navigate.

Don't misunderstand, I do believe there are absolutes in this world. 
Good and evil. Right and wrong. I believe this with every fiber of my being. 
I also believe that these things are instilled deep inside of us. 
Things such as a true sense of justice, crimes that turn our stomachs 
and leave no doubt in our mind, actions and words that hurt, steal or wound.
There are all kinds of right and wrong.
I believe that God himself created us to know it.

But while there are black and white issues in the world, 
there are also circumstances that live somewhere between the black and white. 
Somewhere in the blur of the grey.


We don't typically like the grey.
The grey is nebulous. The grey doesn't offer quick and easy answers. 
The grey can present itself suddenly, or very slowly over time.
And the grey isn't always wrong...or always right.
There isn't always a cut and dried practical, or spiritual, answer.

One of the problems with human nature is that we are often too quick to jump to conclusions about other people and their grey. Too quick to look at a situation we think we know a little something about and call it black or white. Too often, I've witnessed people quoting scripture to "prove" their judgement of what they perceive as right or wrong...for everyone else.

Without knowing all the facts.
Without walking in their shoes.
Without understanding their journey.

Truth is, real life is lived in a variety of colors.

Remember when you were a kid playing with watercolor? 
Sometimes when certain colors were mixed- or mixed too much-
they would blur together to make a not-so-pretty, unattractive mess.

Sometimes our life is like that. Messy.
Okay, maybe more than sometimes!

This is where grace comes in.
Giving people grace and time to work through their grey.
And the beautiful thing is that God is in the grey, walking along side,
gently leading us into clarity.
  


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