What is God’s grace? It is “the unmerited favor of God in which he unconditionally loves us, forgives us and reconciles us to himself.” When we accept it, Jesus comes to live in us so we can be who we never thought we could be.

Ephesians 2:1-10 explains how God’s grace benefits us. We were once dead in our transgressions and sins. This also meant we were separated from God and were destined to receive God’s wrath. But in His mercy, God raised us up with Jesus Christ and redeemed us.

As we live our lives in a world that is full of temptations and difficulties, is God’s grace enough for us? Or, do we want something more? Our attitudes and emotions can answer these questions for us. Do we typically have an attitude of thankfulness to God because of what He has done for us or are we more often than not angry, frustrated and lacking faith? It is so easy to take our eyes off God and start concentrating on our problems.

As part of his grace, God uses our problems to make us better people (Romans 8:28) – that is, if we let Him. When we are facing difficult problems, we can ask “God, what are you trying to teach me through this?” or we can become angry and ask “Why is this happening to me?” If we trust God’s grace to get us through life’s difficulties, our problems mold us into people who become more like Jesus. If we decide to focus on our difficulties apart from Jesus, our problems make us angry and bitter.

Even though God gives us grace we don’t deserve, He never promises us an easy life. Storms, heartaches, accidents, sickness and violence are part of the world we live in and they can affect us. As author Dennis Wholey said, “Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian.”

So, as a follower of Jesus Christ, is God’s grace enough? Or, are you mad and bitter because life is unfair?