God knows all about everything we go through in life and especially those times when we need help. He repeatedly tells us in His Word that when we are feeling at the end of our strength or just needing a break, we can “…approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)
While the terms have similar meanings, grace and mercy are not the same. Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve because of our sins, and grace is God blessing us despite the fact that we do not deserve it.
No matter what we have done, God promises that when we come to Him, he will be merciful even though we don’t deserve it and that His grace will give to us abundantly. He says because of His grace and mercy that, we can come boldly to Him, knowing He will be there for us and won’t fail us in our hour of need.
When Paul wrote that we could approach God boldly for His grace, mercy and help, he talked about help amid a life-threatening storm. He chose to use the unusual word for “help”, being boetheia in Greek, which is an ancient nautical term.
The definition of boetheia is an aid, especially a rope or chain, for frapping a vessel: (frap – is a nautical term; to bind or wrap tightly with ropes or chains).
Frapping is a tactic sailors use when a ship is beaten by a storm and threatened to break apart. They would take ropes or chains and wrap the boat with these bands to strengthen the vessel. This would hold the wooden ship together against the pounding of the waves.
Paul was trying to tell us that we could be ‘frapped’, held together or helped by the strongest cords of all; God’s bonds of love. Nothing can destroy us when God has hold of us, and we can approach Him boldly because of His grace and mercy and then allow Him to help and hold us together.
Today whatever you may be going through, God wants you to come to Him and to come boldly and confidently, knowing that you will receive all that you need to keep moving forward and to overcome any difficulty and circumstance. Come to Him “with confidence and draw near to the throne of grace, that you may receive mercy and find grace to help in your time of need.” (Heb 4:16).
“For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things; in Him, all things hold together”. (Colossians 1:17)
Prayer: Lord, I’m asking for your help today, knowing that you promise to extend your grace and mercy towards me whenever I come to you. Please hold me together in your love. In Jesus' name Amen.
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