I bought the early release of Shane & Shane’s new album The One You Need this week, and I have been absolutely loving it (You can download it at their website: ShaneandShane.com)! Their sound keeps slowly changing, so I’ve had to listen to the CD a couple times to get used to a jazzier and more produced sound, which I am starting to like now. But what I knew I could count on in the new album was solid, biblical lyrics that pierce the soul. I was not disappointed at all. I’ve been listening to the CD for the whole week straight, and the lyrics have been ministering to my soul consistently, as the music is growing on me more and more.Most of the time, I know whether I will really love a song within a few seconds of listening to it – at the latest by the end of the first verse/chorus – but there are rare times when it takes me listening to the very end to really clinch me. One of Shane & Shane’s new songs did just that – got me hooked almost entirely because of the way they ended the song. The song is called “Grace is Sufficient” (which is a new song that is different from the one on their earlier album, Clean).
The lyrics are obviously based upon 2 Corinthians 12:9, where God tells Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you…” The verses consist of questions like:
What are you going to do
when the doctor comes into the waiting room,
puts his hand on you and says, “I’m sorry”?
What are you going to say to God,
when all you do is pray to God,
to take the thorn away?
And all you hear him say is…
Which lead into the chorus that proclaims:
“My grace… is sufficient.”
To be honest, my initial thought when first listening to the song was: “Good song, but why add it on the CD when you’ve already released a song previously that basically says the same thing?” That was, until I was listening to the song again later while driving and the last line caught my attention. After the final build up to the last chorus about God’s grace being sufficient, the song dies down to this ending line that struck me dead silent:
What are you going to say to God,
when everything you prayed to God
came your way but you forgot to thank him.
And all you hear him say is: “My grace…”
I was immediately convicted and challenged because I realized how often I ask for God to take away thorns, and then forget to thank him when he gives me his grace. I get so focused on what I think I need for God to give me in my prayers that I forget to see how much he lavishes his grace upon me. I forget to see how much he does answer my prayers and so I forget to thank him afterwards. I just move on to the next thorn or the next need, instead of showing him my gratitude. The Spirit really convicted me of my ungrateful heart through those lines.
But that isn’t why I love this song so much. If the words stopped there convicting me that I need to thank him more because I easily forget, it would be all about me and what I need to do. That would do nothing but bolster my tendency to try and modify my behavior and make myself better on my own volition. But what struck me as so beautiful in these lyrics is the line that follows afterwards – that leaves the last word instead to God:
And all you hear him say is: “My grace…”
Not:
“You need to have a more grateful heart, Jason!”
or
“Why don’t you see how much grace I’ve given you already, Jason?”
But simply:
“My grace…”
That’s our God! That’s Jehovah-Jireh! That’s the God who spared no expense to show his love for us! That’s the God whose grace abounds so much that it even covers our failure to thank him for the grace he’s already given us! His grace knows no bounds! His grace is sufficient to cover even my failure to recognize it. That is grace upon grace! That is amazing grace! That is the undeserved grace that I need every day.
Praise God that he has given, daily gives, and will continue to give his grace…
I've listened to the song several times but didn't catch that until just now. Wow! That really is amazing.
Love that about our God "grace upon grace" it will never get old being reminded how much grace God has toward us!! 🙂
Loved that!
I've not heard the song but plan to listen to their work now. Your comments on God's grace remind me of the leaky bucket analogy: we are like leaky buckets, but God's grace towards is a constant, abundant flow, so generous that we can be brimful every day – even with the leaks!