“’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved…”



At first glance, these words seem almost contradictory. How can grace teach our hearts to fear?

But the hymn writer is naming something deeply honest about faith. Grace first awakens us, it opens our eyes and shows us the truth about our limits, our wandering, and the ways we try to carry life on our own. In that moment of clarity, we feel a kind of holy fear. 

This is not a feeling of terror or panic, but more a deep recognition.

We suddenly see how much we need God.

And yet the story does not end there.

The very same grace that awakens our hearts also comforts them. The moment we realize our need is the moment we discover that God has already moved toward us. Through the incarnation of Jesus and through Christ’s death and resurrection, God enters our reality and responds to our fear and failure, and fragility with grace.

Grace reveals our need, and then grace meets that need, and then grace carries us forward.

Today’s affirmation:
God of mercy,
thank you for the grace that awakens my heart
and the grace that calms my fears.
Let that grace hold me today and always.