My stars aligned this evening. I don't know what it is, but tonight has just been a good night. I left work and went to dinner with friends (delicious Peruvian dinner, btw - best decision ever), I saw my niece's Christmas play, I came home and wrestled with the smallest ones, and I worked out. On a school night. By choice. It was a miracle. And you know what? It felt good. THEN I read my scriptures, and I actually learned something. A good something. A something that I'm sharing because it is so, so necessary. Not new. Just necessary.

I was reading in the Book of Mormon in Alma chapter 27. In verse 5, one word stuck out to me: grace. Alma said that through their actions, they abounded "in the grace of God." They had done a few things to get this abundance: there was equality among them, they were not prideful, they respected each other, and they worked to support themselves. Through those actions, they qualified for the grace of God.

I turned to one of my favorite passages in the Bible Dictionary about Grace and rediscovered the beauty and profundity of it. Here's the good part:

"It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ, and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power..."

I first discovered this passage on my mission, and it was so powerful for me as I struggled with feelings of inadequacy and frustration at my own weaknesses. Today, though, it hit me for a different reason.

Just as I was saying yesterday, I'm in a situation that seems impossible for me to maintain. I struggle every day with different things at work and sometimes I sincerely consider whether or not I can do it. But it is through the grace of my Savior Jesus Christ that I am able to continue. More than that, it is through His grace that I can continue on even better than I'm doing now. I can receive strength and assistance to do good works. Good things. I can do good things with his help, even though I wouldn't be able to do it on my own.

This is my situation, but this same principle applies to everyone. Through grace, we are able to do good things which, because of our fallen nature, we are not capable of doing on our own. Grace is the power that helps the exhausted mother get up every few hours in the night to nurse a tiny baby or take care of a sick child. Grace is the power that helps a lonely soldier fight with bravery and diligence, thousands of miles away from his loved ones. Grace is the power that helps a desperate father spend hours every day trying to secure employment to provide for his family. Grace is the power that helps a discouraged recovering drug addict push forward against years of temptation and weakness. Grace is the power that helps a freezing and hungry missionary knock door after door for hours with no success. Grace is the power that helps a a single woman serve families around her while she yearns for a family of her own.

Grace is the power that helps each of us rise to a higher plane. Grace is the power that enables us to become more than we are. It is through the grace of Jesus Christ that we become like Jesus Christ, and as we become more like him, we more clearly understand and love Him.Without His grace, we cannot do anything. With His grace, we can do everything.