During trips to the Pacific Ocean when our boys were small, I would hold tightly to their hands and walk into the water until we found a good place to stand. As the frigid waves crashed around my shins and their thighs, the flowing sand built up around our feet, planting us firmly in the seashore. After standing against the onslaught of several waves in a row, our feet were buried so deep that it was difficult to pull them out of the sand! 

When the boys were bigger and didn’t need me to hold their hands, I took long walks along the beach, searching for shells and peering into tidepools. One afternoon, captivated by hundreds of sea urchins thriving in a narrow crevice, I stepped into the rocky pool to get a closer look. A huge wave unexpectedly crashed into the tidepool, knocking me off balance and hurtling me through the jagged crevice. If not for the quick reaction of a nearby sunbather, I could have ended up smashed against the boulders rising from the ocean. 

I pictured these two beach experiences recently when I finished reading 1 Peter. At the end of his short letter of exhortation and encouragement, Peter wrote, “This is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.” 

What is the true grace of God? A quick perusal of chapter 1 gives several examples: 

• We are born into a living hope (v. 3) 




• We have an imperishable inheritance (v. 4) 




• We are shielded by God’s power (v. 5) 




• We have an impartial judge (v. 17) 




• We were redeemed from an empty way of life (v. 18) 




• We have been born again (v. 23)  

Standing on these promises of God’s true grace is like when the boys and I planted our feet in the sand at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. The same powerful waves that knocked me from my feet when I perched precariously on the rocks of the tidepool served to deepen our stance when we had chosen good footing in the sand. 

When waves of difficulty come crashing over my life, I want to have my feet planted firmly in the sand of God’s true grace.