Grace That Stoops: A Devotional on God’s Unmerited Favor

I’ve learned that grace often shows up in ways we don’t expect—sometimes with a bottle of cleaner and a quarter in hand.

When I was pregnant with my second child, (Happy 27^th Birthday, Jessica) my doctor ordered bed rest at thirty-six weeks. I took that advice seriously, and my house showed it. Friends brought meals, watched my two-year-old, and kept life running while my husband worked full-time, led his National Guard unit, and pursued his master’s degree.

BUT, my friend Sheri asked what she could do. Half-joking, I said, “My bathrooms could use a good cleaning.” The next thing I knew, she’d arranged childcare for her three-year old, packed up her supplies, and showed up VERY pregnant with a smile. She cleaned while we talked, and I cried. I didn’t deserve her kindness—but she did it anyway.

Fast forward twenty-two years. I was sick with RSV and COVID for nine long weeks. I truly wondered if I would recover. My husband did everything he could, but the house, once again, told the story of survival. Then came my friend Danica—another Sheri moment. She showed up, supplies in hand… and a quarter.

The Unmerited Gift

I had to ask, “Why the quarter?”

“Because,” she said, “it’s the perfect tool to slip into the slot that takes the seat off the commode.”

I didn’t know that. Maybe you didn’t either. But what I did know was this: grace had just walked through my door again, wearing rubber gloves and carrying a coin.

Grace Defined

Grace is often defined as God’s unmerited favor—when He gives us what we do not deserve. Mercy, on the other hand, is when He withholds what we do deserve. Both are expressions of His love.

Through Jesus Christ, God’s mercy and grace are more than ideas—they’re invitations. Christianity isn’t about what we can do for God, but what He has already done for us: saving us, claiming us as His own, and guiding us for His glory and our good.

We can experience that grace by placing our faith in Christ. It’s that simple, and that profound.

Grace Responded

Donald Barnhouse once said, “Love that goes upward is worship; love that goes outward is affection; and love that stoops is grace.”

Grace stoops to scrub a bathroom toilet and floor. Grace stoops to meet us in our need. And ultimately, grace stooped from Heaven to a cross so we could be lifted up.

When we understand that, gratitude becomes the only fitting response.

“Love that goes upward is worship; love that goes outward is affection; and love that stoops is grace.” Donald Barnhouse

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A Prayer of Thanks

Father, thank You for the gift of grace. I know my own works could never be enough to earn Your favor. Thank You for doing for me what I could never do for myself. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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