God’s Grace~~
A thought that occurred to me one particular day when I could not stop thanking God for His goodness and grace.
When we think of God’s Grace, I believe the first thing that usually comes to our mind is God’s Grace in relation to our salvation. Grace is most commonly defined as “the free and unmerited favor of God.” Because of God’s Grace to us, He sent His only Son, Jesus, to earth, to die for our sins; for our salvation. Grace is a free gift from God to us!
In researching different definitions about the word Grace, I found one site that listed seven of them. I am going to zero in on two of those which are applicable to these thoughts this week:
To view the complete list of definitions for the word Grace click here.
Let me share my story where I personally experienced God’s Grace in a mighty way; one where I feel God extended His favor and even performed a “miracle” in my life!
It was a day, about three weeks ago, that started out with great blessing being able to hold those little ones in the NICU for almost 5 hours; a time of reflection that actually led to the penning of my thoughts entitled IN THE PALMS OF HIS HANDS! Sharing love with those littlest of ones is now a precious memory as we await the end of this COVID-19 issue; only being able to lift the babies, their families and the nurses up in prayer.
Originally I was going to stop at a store after loving those little ones but opted not to since I would not be going directly home afterwards. Instead, I was heading from the NICU directly to church where I would be arriving a little early giving me extra time to pray.
I was driving on the section of the highway a little past where the speed limit changes from 55 mph to 65 mph. There was a car in front of me, in the “regular” lane that was going a little slower so I slowed down too. Further ahead in the passing lane I observed two cars that both went from the passing lane into the regular lane. Just as quickly as they went from the passing lane to the regular lane, they both went back to the passing lane. I thought it odd but figured there must have been a slower car in front that was not visible from where I was.
All of a sudden the car directly in front of me starts swerving back and forth heading to the shoulder. Suddenly, I could see why…in front of me there was this huge cardboard box that was tall and standing up in the middle of our lane. I ended up swerving back and forth about four times and somehow instead of going to the shoulder where the other car was, I ended up staying closer to the middle of the road and ended up eventually in the passing lane. It happened so fast that I did not have time to really look to see if a car was in the passing lane since I had nowhere else to go. If my memory serves me well I think I actually ended up closing my eyes real quick as the car went completely into the passing lane!
I have never, ever experienced anything like that before…having to go from 65 mph to like stopping to avoid an accident. All I could keep saying was
as I continued on slowly down the road since I did not crash into anything; God’s angels protecting me! I think I said those words all the way to church just to make sure God knew how thankful I was!!
Just a bit ahead I saw a pickup truck on the shoulder that had a washing machine on the back. I think it is safe to assume that the huge box that was in the road must have blown off the washing machine while the truck was traveling down the highway. I am so thankful that the four drivers and cars right at that moment were all safe by God’s grace; hopefully subsequent cars were too.
With that story, I definitely saw God’s grace as Him granting us all favor and kindness in guiding us and our cars to safety. I even truly can say I believe it was a miracle thinking how easily things could have ended very tragically!
I continued to receive God’s grace, in the sense of more favor and kindness, with blessings at church and after. God used the song On Eagle’s Wings to confirm my NICU thoughts of how we need to rest in the palms of His hands. In retrospect, how eerie that three weeks later we are basically quarantined and all have time to rest with and in Him! I realized too that the song is based on Psalm 91 which keeps showing up in my life recently! God’s perfect timing~
During the church service that night, it was so powerful to see how the sunset was coming through the stained glass windows so powerfully throughout the service. I could not take my eyes off it! It was actually so bright that you needed sunglasses. Oddly enough, I later realized that the sun shining through was only visible at the exact spot where I was! It is another treasured memory that I have with seeing that the churches are also closed for now. I was so thankful to be there and couldn’t help but share all those grace filled moments with the Deacon and Pastor that I ran into.
Photo courtesy of Karen Cox under Creative Commons License (CC BY-ND 2.0)
Following church there was a gathering for dinner and a movie. Another huge blessing to me that night, making me thankful I was there, was when a friend came up after the movie to talk to me. He came to let me know how it blessed him, helped calm him, that night, seeing me help serve at the church dinner as he was apprehensive about attending.
He also wanted to share with me a story about his daughter; a story that gave me “chills” as he was sharing. She was recently diagnosed with a carotid artery tear, sent home on meds and to rest. The severity of her condition was under estimated by the Drs at first. Thankfully some friends of hers came to visit her at home and the one, a nurse, realized his daughter was in trouble, called an ambulance and she was immediately put in ICU.
The next day an angioplasty was performed. When they inserted the balloon the artery totally collapsed and she had a seizure! The surgeon ended up saving her life while she was on the operating table. The 4 stents were inserted and the operation was completed. She was able to talk and was very thankful to be alive! It has been slow going but little by little she is adjusting to this new life.
What really struck me was when he shared that the Dr said if all this did not happen now, she would have died within six months!
Later, as I was thinking about it and praying for the daughter and all the family, that phrase of God’s grace resonated in my heart. Yes, God’s grace, His favour, kindness, miracle, with His perfect timing, led to those events happening as difficult as they were. God’s grace sparing her life throughout the procedure and through the procedure itself, saving her from something worse happening later which would have led to immediate death. I had to email him later to share that thought with him; God’s grace at its finest!
Photo courtesy of MTSOfan under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
When he finished sharing his story that night, I felt I had to share my story of the trip to church that day with him. He truly understood the magnitude of what happened and agreed it was a miracle that I was standing there sharing with him; we exchanged a few hugs because we were both grateful for God’s Grace with both stories. I felt the Lord hugging me through that encounter. As he said later, that night was “a spiritual joining of two sincere hearts.” I could not agree more and I am so grateful for that.
I had forgotten to mention to him about the stained glass window encounter so I emailed him later. He felt like it was God telling me that His light was shining on me; saving me from harm, to have me continue to try to inspire others through my writing. This gentleman is a great supporter of my weekly thoughts and one that has encouraged me to pursue compiling them into book form.
I continue to be so thankful for God’s grace that really graced my life that day and saved my friend’s daughter’s life; great memories and miracles to reflect on during these days of quarantine. They are times when we need to look for God’s Presence in our lives in different ways than we might be accustomed to; to be Christ’s hands and feet to others and rest in His Presence.
Can you think of some ways you have experienced God’s grace in your life? Would you please be willing to share in the comment section below? Thank you in advance~
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. –Psalm 91:11-12 (ESV)
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us– yes, establish the work of our hands. –Psalm 90:17 (NIV)
But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. –Acts 20:24 (NLT)
