By I used to think grace was God’s backup plan.
Like He set up the rules, hoped we’d keep them, and then when we couldn’t, He scrambled and sent Jesus as a save.
That’s not it.
God knew you before He made you. Which means He already knew the whole “perfect” thing was never going to work. Not for you. Not for me. Not for anybody who’s ever lived!
So the cross wasn’t Plan B. It was the plan.
Peter said it: God chose Jesus for this plan “long before the world began” (1 Peter 1:20). Not after Adam and Eve sinned. Not after you and I came along and made our own mess of things. Before any of it.
If you’re the type who replays things at 3am—the mistake, the thing you said, the thing you didn’t do—I need you to hear this: you didn’t fail a test God expected you to pass. You just found the reason He came.
Praise Him for that.
(This is basically the heart behind my book Permission to Be Imperfect. I wrote it because I needed someone to tell me this, and I figured you might need it too. That’s why I’ve extended my offer to get it for a donation of any amount.)
Remember: grace isn’t God’s damage control. It’s His design. (A point I make even scientifically in the first chapter.)