Falling Into Grace

Madi Ford
Sep 9, 2021
3 min read

I will absolutely never forget taking a skiing lesson in the thick of one of Minnesota's most memorable snowstorms! Growing up in Minnesota, my parents felt it was important that I learned how to ski. Accordingly, one winter my mom signed our whole family up for skiing lessons. Startling undeterred by the weather, nine-year-old me learned to ski amidst the background of the fifth snowiest day in Minnesota's (very snowy) history.

I will also always remember how irritated and utterly offended my punk self was that, as beginner skiers, we were not allowed to use ski poles. For those new to the territory, they tend to cause far more damage than anything– especially as it pertains to falling. Which you tend to do a lot of when just grasping your footings. Foundational to learning how to ski, is learning how to fall. I think it's something like the first thing they teach you after how to snap your boot into your ski. Not only that, but learning how to fall saftley and how to get back up again.

The other night a few friends of mine and myself found ourselves in the back wells of one of the theaters on campus, around a piano just singing praises to the Father. The lyrics to Matt Maher's Lord I Need You, though long established in my heart, blew freshly through me.

"And when I cannot stand, I'll fall on You"

The Lord gave me this picture of somebody bellyflopping, spread eagle onto their bed after a long day. My heart gleaned towards the idea of what it would be like to thrust ourselves towards Christ in the same measure? What if we understood that we could crawl up in the lap of God and be swallowed in the mercy, love and delight that He has for us. I‘m reminded of those pictures of newborns snugged into eight foot teddy bears—complete enrapture by the teddy bear.

The Lord longs to for His children to be held in His lap and dandled upon His knees. (Isaiah 66:12)

What if our perception towards faith was undergirded by an anticipation of failure?

Learning how to fall rightly is thousands of times more foundational and fundamental as it pertains to one's relationship with Christ, than it is downhill skiing. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, affirms that in the thick of our sin and perpetual shortcomings of the glory of God, His passion for us was so great, He left his throne to be humiliated and hung on a tree. (Rom. 5:8)

The symphony composed through the chaos of scripture shines a spotlight on the Lamb of God trading his righteousness for ours in miraculous grace. The expansive grace spoken about in scripture, translated from the Greek word charis, can be conceptualized as "the unmerited favor of God". We have done nothing to deserve it and can do nothing to escape it.

Hebrews 7:19 makes bold proclamation that, "For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God." In other words, perfection by adherence to the law under the first covenant was always an unreachable standard. Under the New Covenant, established through the sacrifice and blood offering of the Lamb of God, perfection is attained through his righteousness and Not Our Own.

In the same way as a loving parent doesn't shove to the side and discount their teetering little one stumbling as they grow and strengthen new muscles. Our heavenly and eternal Father, who's care for us unimaginably surpasses that of every Earthy parent, is by our side to catch us in our defeat and is merciful and encouraging as we discover and strengthen one's new muscle of faith.

I'm a better skier following every epic blowout on the slopes. No pain, no gain. (It has also been probably close to six years since I have been on skis and the muscles that at one point had been trained haven't been worked out and have lost their memory. Faith is the same way, but that's another post for another time.)

go in great grace,

Madi :)

"So teach my song to rise to You When temptation comes my way And when I cannot stand, I'll fall on You Jesus, You're my hope and stay

Lord, I need You, oh I need You Every hour, I need You My one defense, my righteousness Oh God, how I need You You're my one defense, my righteousness Oh God, how I need You"