And yet, and yet…

Don’t take it for granted.

You’ve probably heard the above statement thousands of times in your life. It inhabits the spaces of motivation, of discipline, of encouragement. It rings with the tone of humility and growth. It calls the reader to not assume anything, but rather to work and appreciate.

But is it true?

When I take a step back and really consider the statement, there are cracks that begin to appear. For sure, we are called to humility and discipline and growth. We’re not called to laziness nor entitlement (which really is the point of the original statement).

And yet, what if this mentality is universally applied? I’ve watched people who have come from difficult circumstances adopt this mantra. But the outcome often moves to less honorable things: survivor guilt, superstition, and general fear.

As we we adopt “don’t take it for granted,” we press doubt into the seams of our intentions and our prayers. We drive harder and harder to avoid instead of striving to become. And even when we experience success, we carry a shame of privilege. We are so afraid that if we take it for granted, then the Lord will punish us and take it away. We begin to see the Lord as a spiteful coach, angry with the player who thinks he is a hotshot. We think of this celestial coach getting ready “to bring that kid down a peg.”

In the end, if we take nothing for granted, we receive nothing with gratitude.

This is the paradox of grace and humility. Confidence in receiving that which we did not earn is the kernel of grace. It eliminates guilt and fear and shame, because it turns away from my personal effort and merit and considers the merit of the one who gives. It recognizes that what was given was not given from compulsion, but from love and passion.

I think about the way Leviathan is described in Psalm 104:24-30…

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
    In wisdom have you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
²⁵ Here is the sea, great and wide,
    which teems with creatures innumerable,
    living things both small and great.
²⁶ There go the ships,
    and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.

²⁷ These all look to you,
    to give them their food in due season.
²⁸ When you give it to them, they gather it up;
    when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
²⁹ When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
    when you take away their breath, they die
    and return to their dust.
³⁰ When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.

The action of this beast is not one of fear nor of entitlement, but fulfillment of its creation. The expression of faith as given by the beasts is the expectation that they will receive what they need in their time, and then exercise the joy of their being. In the psalm, Leviathan doesn’t sneak or cower…it plays in the deeps.

Maybe the truth is the opposite of this survivor guilt, this fear of loss. Maybe we don’t have to live in superstitious dread. Maybe we should take everything for granted.

Those of us who are in Jesus by definition are in a position we did not earn, nor did we deserve. There is so pitiably little that we actually control in our lives, even down to the function of our own bodies. I’ve considered it before as the “grace of previous heartbeats.” God has created the actions and rivulets of our lives in such a way that while we have responsibility to make good decisions and to grow in discipleship, there is very little that we actually earn. And while we manipulate and change things and make our art, we are but demiurges. There is only one who truly creates something from nothing, and we breathe by his grace.

And here’s the paradox at play: the more we lean into the fact that everything we have is grace, the more confidently we will move through the world. We will progress in this track of life, playing in the deeps, without the fearful burden of earning and holding our place. We will look to our creator like the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, knowing that we are not under guilt for what we’ve received, but that we are empowered by his Spirit to join him in his creation of new things.

Grace is the air we breathe, the family we love, the trials we survive, the previous heartbeat, the achievements of our lives, the sharing of our faith that advances the kingdom, the Blood of Christ applied to our dead lives. Grace must be taken for granted, because we could never earn it. Believers that change the world in love and power and compassion walk fearlessly in the grace of our Savior. We play in the deeps of his world.

Take everything for granted.

Signs and wonders, y’all.

¹⁷ By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. ¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:17-19