What Renewable Energy Taught Me about God's Grace

You’re probably reading the title of this post and thinking, “You’re kidding me, right?  Renewable energy?”  Sounds kind of wacky and far-fetched, right?  Perhaps a smidge.  But stay with me here.

  Last fall I took a semester of English as a duel-enrolled student at a nearby college.  There were 3 major papers due in the class: an analyzation, a persuasive letter, and a research paper.  The topic of the research paper was “renewable energy.”  I was stressed about writing on this topic, as I knew next-to-nothing about it.  My professor explained how the topic was supposed to be relatively unfamiliar to us, so we could start from scratch with research instead of relying upon bias or half-formed opinions.  I was relieved to be in the same boat with the majority of the students in the class.

  Renewable energy was an intriguing study.  After hours upon hours of research, filling up notecards, writing, editing, rewriting, properly listing resources, asking questions, and powering through headaches, you better believe I learned a thing or two about renewable energy (even if it was just that: a thing or two)!

  One of the major benefits of renewable energy is how it doesn’t run out like ordinary energy sources.  It’s exactly what it says it is: renewable.  You can go back and get more.  Solar panels aren’t going to suck the sun dry, and windmills aren’t going to suck up all the wind.  Speaking from an economic standpoint (want to guess what other class I took this year? Haha!), it’s very close to a “free good.”  God put the sun in the sky and even if we can’t see it, the presence of light guarantees its existence.  This is how we know that solar energy can be a reliable option.

  As my mind was constantly absorbed with thoughts of renewable energy, I started noticing parallels between it and life.  One day my father and I were in a discussion, and he reminded me of the certainty that God’s grace is always abundant, yet never runs out.  My first thought was: “It’s like renewable energy!”

  The truth is, God’s character is impossible to fully comprehend.  We, as humans, have mental boundaries.  Our human understanding is limited, while our Lord is outside of these restraints.  By human wisdom, understanding, and logic, we are simply unable to grasp how something that is abundantly given can never diminish in supply, strength, or intensity.  This is why faith is necessary for salvation—it is impossible to believe just by what we see.  We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

  Once a Christ-follower, God gives us a special gift that no unbeliever can experience: the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit works powerfully within us, removing the blinding scales once pasted to our eyes by unforgiven sin.  We are able, in a sense, to see glimpses of God’s glory through experiencing the work of the Spirit.

  Although we have the Spirit working within us daily, we still retain our flesh and remain on earth until our work here is accomplished.  We are still subject to confusion and limited understanding.  One of the principles of God’s character that I struggled to understand was grace.  Such a small word, but such a pillar to our faith.  Grace is one of the 5 solas, along with Scripture, faith, Christ, and glory.  We are saved by grace alone.  It is not of our own strength that we obtain salvation (Ephesians 2:8).

  Despite knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is the giver of grace and apart from that my faith is vain, I struggled to understand how God’s grace could never run out.  This truth rubbed against my human reasoning, saying that everything is limited.

  We hear grace described as a fountain in old hymns; gushing, pouring, abundant, and cleansing.  It is a good analogy, and helpful, too.  I’ve also often pictured grace as a giant blanket, able to cover the entire person from head to toe.  When I connected the ideas of renewable energy and grace, something made sense with a greater clarity than any other illustration had afforded.

  Renewable energy is like grace, in that the source is always present.  Energy cannot be emptied from the wind or the sun, yet we harvest energy anyway.  The sun and the wind come daily from God’s storehouse.  If I can trust God to raise the sun and send the breeze, how much more should I be able to trust His grace?