Thankfully, bathtubs have built-in overflow protection; on several occasions we’ve needed it. Just telling the kids to “Go take a bath,” in tubs without built-in overflow drains, can lead to real problems. Those overflow drains have saved us from messy clean-ups on several occasions.
Things overflow. Bathtubs. Sinks. Toilets. And when they do, there is a mess to clean up. This makes overflows undesirable, but there’s an exception.
Our need for God’s grace makes overflow beneficial. Paul suggests, in light of his past, a deluge of grace gushed forth from God that “overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:14). The overflow of grace reflected God’s lavish favor, something for which Paul considered himself immensely unworthy.
Last night I spoke with a Christian woman who for years has struggled with forgiving herself of her past. I encouraged her to remember…”God’s forgiveness is permission for us to forgive ourselves.” It didn’t take long for me to recognize that the problem was deeper than finding a way to forgive herself. At the was concern about God’s forgiveness.
For some of us, grace has an overflow drain, a tube to catch the excess, preventing it from spilling over. The tube takes the excess and sends it back to the collective grace pool, where it awaits an opportunity to be dispersed upon another. God can’t really be that good to us. We simply don’t deserve it. True. We don’t deserve it. But the thought that God really can’t be that good to us is blatantly untrue. That’s what makes him God.
Overflow with regards to grace is anything but a nuisance. We need it. Fortunately, there is a never ending supply from the fountain of a gracious God who loves us immensely.
Thank you Father for your “varied grace” (1 Peter 4:10) and “rich…mercy” (Ephesians 2:4). Please, O Fountain of Living Waters (Jeremiah 2:13), extend grace for cleansing (Zechariah 13:1) to us in overflow!
