The GPS makes driving less stressful for me. I have a very poor sense of direction. The GPS is my driving salvation. I do not fully understand how it works, but it works for me. Once I enter a destination on my device, I know I won’t get lost.
The other day, for fun, I tried to confuse the GPS. I purposely disobeyed the directions. I went the opposite way. The GPS never gave up on me. With every wrong turn I purposely made, the GPS created another route for me. “Recalculate!” the voice in the device said.
God’s grace is like the GPS. I have made many wrong turns in my life. Some were deliberate. Others were misguided. Every time I made a wrong turn, God provided a means to go back to Him.
My heart is like a piece of iron. God is like a magnet. Like the needle of a compass which is always pointing to the north, the needle of my heart always points to God.
In life, every time I get lost, God sends me a compass or a north star to facilitate my return to him.
I do not have any problem with God punishing sin. It seems right and just. A holy God cannot tolerate sins. God’s judgements or punishments are easy to understand.
God burned Sodom and Gomorrah down because of the sinfulness of their people. I applaud what God did. Sodom and Gomorrah deserved what happened to them.
God drowned the Egyptians who pursued the Israelites at the Red Sea. I would say “Bravo, God!” The Egyptians were mean to God’s people. They deserved to drown.
Ananias and Saphira were dead on arrival. I have no problems with it. They lied to the Holy Spirit. They deserved to die.
God’s judgements and punishments I cand fully embrace.
But God’s grace? Anything but.
Think of King David, who had a woman pregnant and had the woman’s husband killed. David repented and became known as “a man of God’s heart.”
Think of Peter, who denied Christ not once but three times. He repented and became the first pope.
Think of Zacchaeus, a tax collector. He was a crook. He cheated almost everyone in his town. He repented. Jesus had lunch with him in his house.
Think of the repentant thief crucified on Christ’s side at Calvary. At death’s door, the thief asked Christ a favor. “Remember me when you enter into your kingdom,” he asked Christ. “Today you will be with me in paradise” was Christ’s response.
Think of Paul. Paul persecuted Christians. Paul heard a voice: “Paul, why are you persecuting me?” the voice said. You know the rest of the story.
In the Scriptures, God’s grace is revealed – in story after story, prayer after prayer, surprise after surprise.
I challenge you to find a soul in the Scriptures who comes to God seeking His grace and does not find it. You won’t find one.
I challenge you to find a person who seeks a second chance and leaves with a stern lecture from God. You won’t find one.
Instead, you will find a lost sheep, on the other side of the river stuck in the bushes. The shepherd searches for him. The sheep does not get a scolding or a whipping when he is found. The shepherd lifts him up and carries him to join the flock.
The rest of the sheep shake their heads in disbelief, just as we might when Jesus carries into our midst one repentant sinner after another – sinners whom we thought do not deserve heaven.
God gives us more grace than we could ever imagine. God does not ask us to water down the truth. God does not ask us to compromise the Gospel. If God is our Father, then we are all brothers and sisters.
If God can tolerate my mistakes, why can’t I tolerate the mistakes of others?
If God allows me, with my foibles and failures, to call Him “Father,” should I not extend the same grace to others? I know this for sure. When we get to heaven, we will be surprised at some folks who are there. And some will be surprised to see us