When we struggle with issues that are too big to handle on our own, maybe it’s time to turn them over to God. Many of us have a tendency to do everything ourselves, and then get frustrated when things don’t improve. On a spiritual level, this is called operating under the Law, instead of under grace. You may have heard the term “Let go and let God,” which simply means having the wisdom to allow Him to handle our problems as only He can.

God’s wisdom is not the world’s wisdom, and we can’t begin to understand His comprehensive plans and purposes. Instead of trying to force things to happen through our own works, relying on His grace yields better results. By their very nature, our works are dependent on the Law. Jesus is Grace, and trusting in Him empowers our lives.

During the time of Moses, the people didn’t have grace yet; they only had a pair of stone tablets to govern their actions. Anyone not following the Law was condemned to death. But when Jesus came and fulfilled the laws of old, He breathed life into them (Hebrews 10:16, NIV). Jesus’ laws are based on life, not death, and they govern our hearts.

It takes courage to step out in faith and trust that God’s grace will be sufficient to carry us through. But when we reflect on the implications of Jesus’ finished works, we can begin to see the big picture. God is love, and Jesus was the Father’s love in human form. His entire ministry on earth was about His love for us.   

God’s love is big and powerful, victorious and all-encompassing. The world operates under the Law in fear and defeat, but under the Law the magnitude of His grace is not recognized. Jesus is Grace Himself, but the world doesn’t know Him or realize the need for Him in all situations. When we take Him into our hearts and realize that we no longer have to live in fear of condemnation, we also are set apart from the world (John 14:17, AMP).

Under the old laws, the focus was on people’s sins, and they were constantly reminded of their guilt and inadequacy. No one could keep the more than 600 laws that were in effect, and the priests were the only individuals who could come into God’s presence. But when Jesus came, He wrote the law of love on our hearts and became the intermediary between us and God. He replaced death and condemnation with life, mercy, compassion, and grace.

When we firmly believe in grace, that belief releases God’s power to work in our lives. What hinders it is when we try to mix His grace with our works. Our doubt cancels the manifestations of grace. To emphasize this, the Scriptures use the example of putting new wine in old wineskins (Mark 2:21, 22).

We can confuse things by trying to fulfill requirements of the Law while trying to live under grace at the same time. Many Christians make this mistake, and end up discouraged when they don’t see the next-level results they were hoping for. We can rest in God when we know that His relentless love will seek us out and never let us go, no matter what we’ve done wrong or what sins we’ve committed. We don’t have to work hard to atone for our sins under the Law when we have grace, which is unearned, unmerited, and undeserved favor from God.