...where would you be? Where would anyone be? Some folks think grace and Christian are bound in some kind of synonymous exclusivity. That God's grace is reserved for Christians who trust in Christ the Lord--who recognize, believe and understand all the various doctrines which consume the word. Saving grace. To me, that kind of grace segregates most of life from the womb to the grave. Where is grace for the abused and molested? Where is grace for the aborted life? Where is grace for the tortured and maimed? Where is grace for the abandoned and betrayed?
Why, grace abounds! It envelopes the whole of life and binds the simple innocent proclamation, I believe the 'word' near my heart, in my heart. It's in my mouth and yours.
"The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,...the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,...for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." {Romans 10
Yet, even when I did not call, nor believe--grace surrounded me. Kept me. Protected me. Nudged me; drew me. Indeed, it even edified me. I look back on my life before Christ and realize how little I knew of Jesus other than He being vainly addressed in the heat of an argument, or explained in Sunday School by a humble Christian mother. As a child I lived with cruelty and venomous attitudes. They were placed on my plate from the time I was a mere toddler. I cannot remember a single day where there was not an argument in my home. Not one. I cannot recall a single time I did anything that my stepmother didn't criticize, condemn or ignore. I was always wrong, always lazy, always stupid, always "just like my mother". Yet amid all that, she gave me cookies, made me dresses, washed my clothes, and on Saturday nights--she curled my hair. I lived in a world of unpredictable explosions, fits of anger and euphoric songs of praise. Strange. Very strange. Such mania.
I can remember things I thought that were downright evil. Unspeakable things, vindictive things. Fearfilled, sleepless nights were normal. In spite of all that evil, grace encompassed it all. Grace shrouded the elements of evil with the love and benevolence of God. Grace took all the evil and kept it from literally destroying me.
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:15-17. ESV
My Creator held me and my world together. Despite the life I was born into, God surrounded me with people who showed me grace. They bathed me in compassion, empathy, and prayer. Sunday school teachers. Strangers. An uncle. A few step-cousins. Days were dressed with butterflies, blue ribbons, and sparkling creeks. Sunshine, daisies, and dandelions. Kittens, puppies, and bluebirds.
Life is filled with the grace of God; grace abounds. Until we leave this world, with or without Jesus in our lives, we will have grace abounding. Why would God bestow such grace upon this evil world? Why would He seemingly look the other way when such atrocities exist? I have no idea. But I know one thing. He loves us in the midst of it all. He died for us because He first loved us. Perhaps God expects we who are called by His name to extend His grace to people like the child I once was? So others could choose to permanently receive His saving grace through Jesus the Christ, and live eternally in His presence. Could we all live with that purpose in our hearts and minds? We could. But only some will. Others will go their own way. If not for the grace of God, where would we be? selahV
