The Grace of God

The prophet sat on the hillside and watched Nineveh to see what would happen next. He already knew what would happen; that's why he didn't want to go to Nineveh. He even told God he knew what would happen. But still, he watched. 

And you can't help but wonder if he was concerned, as too many persons of God tend to be concerned, that Nineveh was about to get more of God's grace than he felt like he had. 

Uhm, Jonah? Do you realize how much of God's grace you've already gotten? 

God gave you the grace to run away in the other direction and not do the thing He called you to do. 

He gave you the grace to survive a storm that scared the wits out of some very seasoned sailors. 

He rescued you from the raging waters of that very same storm so that you didn't just get sucked into the depths and die right there. 

He put you safely inside a fish that could have eaten you, but did not digest you. 

He caused that same fish to spit you out...and not back into the waters where you'd have to save yourself, but close enough to shore that you could wash up and stand a chance. 

And speaking of chances, He gave you a second chance to go and do that thing that He called you to do in the first place.

And you, Jonah, might be afraid that someone else will get more of God's grace than you? 

Not gonna happen. 

But this is a trap that so many of us fall into. Our lives are so much our lives, our stories so simple to us, that we often neglect to see God's hand in them. We miss all the wonderful, beautiful, gracious little things He's done for us. Then, we end up looking around and getting a little jealous that other folks are experiencing the grace of God, too. 

Where's our grace? 

Why, it's right here. On literally every single page of our story. 

Have you ever truly sat back and thought about what God has done for you? Maybe your story doesn't include a raging storm and a big fish, but I bet it contains some other wild and crazy things. Things you can only explain if God's grace is in on it. 

Actually, I'll bet your life is full of more grace than you even realize. If you took the time to sit and think, you'd probably be...amazed. (Hey, maybe that's where the song came from.) 

A wretch like me. 

So how is it that we miss this grace so easily?