What does Primary Grace mean?

In his book, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity, Eugene Peterson writes:

“The Hebrew evening/morning sequence conditions us to the rhythms of grace. We go to sleep, and God begins his work. As we sleep he develops his covenant. We wake and are called out to participate in God's creative action. We respond in faith, in word. But always grace is previous. Grace is primary.

We wake into a world we didn't make, into a salvation we didn't earn. Evening: God begins, without our help, his creative day. Morning: God calls us to enjoy and share and develop the work he initiated. Creation and covenant are sheer grace and there to greet us every morning.”

The all-sufficient grace of God sustains us. When we wake up each day, we can start the day resting in God's promises, taking comfort in his divine providence, knowing he is already at work in our lives, ordering our steps, and paving the way with his grace—primary grace.