I was driving down a poorly lit boulevard after dark a few days ago. I was on the way to get my daughter a late dinner after helping a relative load our car with items to store in our attic. I looked down at the map on my phone, attached to a holder on the console, and explained to her that the route indicated meant taking the interstate, but that I knew how to get to the restaurant using a less busy road. I did not have a thought, did not hear anything, but my head jerked up just in time to see a person on a bicycle slowly crossing the three lanes not far ahead of me. I slammed on my breaks. And I even honked my horn, just out of shock, I suppose. The person wearing all dark clothing with no refective gear at all passed without any acknowledgement of me or the incident whatsoever.
But I was shaken. I had been looking down longer than I should have and I could have slammed into that cyclist with no pause. It took my breath away. I took it back and repeated “Thank You Jesus!” with more gratefulness than I have words to express.
I confessed to God and my daughter that I had been so wrong to be distracted by that map for so long. I remembered public service announcements about how 5 seconds looking at a text message can cause disaster. I was looking at a map, but disaster was only averted by the grace of God! What a mighty God we serve! He saved me from disaster. He saved me again! Many times on the highways He has saved me from disaster, and has saved my very life. Many times in many ways He has saved my life, out of His Great Grace. And indeed He has saved my soul. Because He saved my soul, I know I will be with Him in heaven after I leave this life, so I am not concerned about dying. But I’m concerned about the condition of my heart when I do. I’m concerned about how I will present myself to Him when I arrive in His presence.
I was reminded of that night while listening to Priscilla Shirer telling of her grandmother who, near the end of her life, told her granddaughter that she did not want to face Jesus on her last day unable to look Him square in the face. “Oh, Priscilla, I don’t want to meet Him with my head hung down,” she said. Those two women understand “being right” with the Lord. Understand the importance of giving and receiving forgiveness. And understand how vast is the unmerited favor of a gracious God!
In an article on desiringGod.org, staff writer John Bloom wrote:
The old hymn says it beautifully: “Grace, grace, God’s grace; grace that is greater than all my sin.”
But the grace of God is not only great enough to “pardon and cleanse within.” It is so powerful, as Joseph’s older brothers learned in Genesis 45, that it can turn the most horrible sin you have ever committed against another, or has ever been committed against you, and make it the slave of his mercy.
My sin a slave to mercy? Oh yes. If you have not lived through challenges in your life that brought you deep enough to NEED the great, wide, vast mercy of God, then you may not be able to understand this. If you want to gain this understanding, ask for it, but don’t get mad when you go through heavy trials… it’s the only way to get it. (It’s the same as miracles; everyone WANTS one but nobody wants to NEED one. But you only GET one if that’s all it could take to keep you from running down a bicyclist late one Monday night on Williams Boulevard. Or keep you from jumping. Or keep your leg from being amputated. Whatever the miracle is, it needs a need to be needed. See the struggle as the road to the miracle, the path to grace.
No one needs a vindicator who is not pursued by a foe. Nobody who is not under attack needs to be rescued. But don’t get mad at the attacker, look to the savior!
And then, as Psalm 54 says, we offer thanksgiving and
1 O God, save me by Your name, and vindicate me by Your might.
2 O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah
4 Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.
5 He will return the evil to my enemies; in Your faithfulness put an end to them.
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7 For He has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
Give thanks for He has saved you. Offer time to the God who saves to thank Him.