28 September 2010
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
As a boy growing up in his native China, William sang about the grace of God, but it was not until the cold reality of solitary confinement in a communist prison set in that William began to understand what grace really means. You see, his mother was an American missionary who married a refined, cultured Chinese medical doctor, and they served the Lord together, teaching their children to know and serve the Lord.
Then came the Cultural Revolution beginning in 1966 when thousands of families were torn apart by Mao's Red Guard, who became hangman, judge and jury at the same time. William's mother was sent to prison; his father also sent to prison, died mysteriously in what prison officials termed a "work related" accident.
Along with his sisters, who were guilty by association, William was sent to prison. His crime: an unrepentant individual who confessed Jesus Christ as His Lord. For that, William was confined in total darkness for a period of nine months. Bad things happen to good people, and during the Cultural Revolution a lot of good people drank deeply from the bitter cup of bad things.
How do people like William cope? Grit their teeth and simply endure? Or is there a measure of help and support for God's children which gives hope and sustains in the dark hour? There is, friend, and for two thousand years, God's children have called it "the grace of God."
After he was released from prison, William wrote to a mutual friend and said, "What I miss more than all else are the intense, quiet moments with Christ that I have not known since the anguish of the days while I was in solitary confinement!"
There is a facet of God's care and concern that we experience in times of pain and loss which we can never have apart from times of testing. It is the comfort of God's Spirit that lets us sense the warmth of God's care and concern. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matthew 5:4KJV), and when he said that He was not merely passing out verbal bouquets as meaningless platitudes. He was saying there is help for our hurt, relief for our pain, and hope for our despair. That is another facet of this wonderful thing called the grace of God.
There is something else which needs to be explained which makes the grace of God even more remarkable. Grace is not something which is dispensed in response to our moral goodness, as though God instructs an angel to keep track of our good deeds and when we hit certain levels God rewards us as airlines do with frequent flyer points.
That is the difference between rewards which are owed for merit, and the grace of God which is given to anyone who will seek God with all his heart. Long ago God said, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). Still valid? You can be sure. God hasn't changed, and grace is still there--free, undeserved, and completely sufficient.
Friend, have you ever tasted of the grace of God? Frankly, when trouble knocks at your door, you've got to hang around long enough to be willing to receive the grace God freely offers. When you get to the point of desperation, you're ready to experience this marvelous help called grace.
Sometimes the best thing in our lives happens because God allowed a bad thing which resulted in a very, very good thing as we tasted richly of the grace of God. Then we learn what God told Paul long ago, "My grace is sufficient..." (2 Corinthians 12:9). Yes, good things can result from bad ones.
Resource reading: Psalm 46.