I’m baaaaack! I’m not sure how many missed me in the weeks since my last article, but I’m back at my keyboard refreshed, full of ideas (not sure how many will make to this page), and full of thankfulness. So where was I?
In a very real way I experienced in real time God’s radical grace. No I did not get saved again (once is all one needs). No, I experienced God’s radical grace through the birth of our daughter, Rebeka Alain. She was born on May 20, 2016 after 22 hours of labor. Yes, I wrote 22 hours of labor. Twenty-two. Wow! That was some kind of labor! Watching my most recent child arrive safely was once again an awe-inspiring experience. She was tiny at birth and still is kind of tiny. But she is a rather large reminder of how God is gracious to us every single day.
I realized how gracious God is to us every day when I was holding little Rebeka. He graciously delivered to us an little baby to our family. She is healthy though small. She is a little beauty. And a reminder of God’s graciousness to us. I shouldn’t need a reminded of God’s graciousness toward us, but I do. But isn’t that the way we all are?
Each day we wake up to magnificent sunrises or rain feeding the ground so our crops may grow. Bit still we look for God’s favor. God paints our sunsets with brilliant hues of blue, yellow, and red. He paint the sky more beautifully than any of the so-called master artists of history. And still, we look for God’s favor.
We seek to invent ways of God granting grace to us and our children but ignore the signs of grace all around us. We do this to our shame. We have become so ignorant because we have treasured knowledge rather than wisdom. We lose sight of the beauty of God’s creation in the science of botany. We analyze, theorize, and master the nuances of why the sky is painted with brilliant colors and lost the simplicity of appreciating the One who painted the evening sky.
We have eyes but we don’t see. We have ears, but we don’t hear. We read, study, memorize, and regurgitate things but we lack wisdom. All these things happen because we choose to do them. We make choices each day that blind us to the simple – yet radical – grace of God.
I have decided to try as much as I can to slow down and actively recognize the many ways God displays His grace to me. Today (Sunday) He shared His grace with me through the humility of my Pastor. I’m not sure how He will display it tomorrow but I do know I will be seeking to recognize it.
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When you recognize God’s grace – His radical, loving, undeserved grace – in your life, it changes you. Please share your grace experiences with me in the comments or through email. There are many out there…if we only choose to recognize them.
The Bald Theologian 