It’s interesting to ask people what they think about God’s grace; His goodness. Not everyone believes they are blessed and highly favored. It’s interesting to me because it’s like telling a child that their parents have a limit to how much love they have for them. “Sorry, kiddo, but I don’t love you that much…” or “That goes beyond the amount of love I have for you…” Wow! I can’t imagine God’s goodness only going so far. It would be so easy for me to run off on a rabbit trail with this, come to the soap box, and climb on up. But I’ll refrain… for now.
Anyone who has had the opportunity to read the first two portions of our cross-country move can see that it was not traveled on what most would call a smoothly paved road. Eh, perhaps the road was fine… but the truck was not. If you missed the first two parts of our adventure, they hold a bit of humor, heartache, and hope – I believe you would be blessed to read them. Part I: Doors of Favor and Part II: Forest of Favor. Enjoy!
In part one, I was caffeine-deficient and lost our 4yo in the Denver airport; part two had us stuck in Weatherford, Oklahoma, for three days while our transmission was replaced. What more could possibly go wrong? It’s really difficult to top the panic of losing (and finding) your 4yo. What’s worse than losing your transmission in the middle of Nowhere-Oklahoma? After all of that, I’m sure you can imagine that nerves were a bit frayed and we were pretty well done with being on the road. While I had never been in our new home, I was longing for home. I was eager to set up, turning our house into our home. Once we were able to get back on the road, we were both pushing to get more miles behind us a bit faster.
Between our departure from Oklahoma and our arrival at our new home, we limped along. Yes, you read that right: we limped along. The transmission had been replaced, but on the north side of Birmingham, Alabama, we found out we were now dealing with spark plugs and wires, an “insignificant” O2 sensor, and possibly a catalytic converter. As always, we prayed. We re-evaluated our travel plans (had to back out of visiting with friends) and stayed on the road to get home. There was a palpable anxiety in the cab of our truck (just me – my husband saw this whole thing as an adventure), and a silent plea running on repeat in my mind: “Please don’t break down… Please don’t break down… Please don’t break down…”
Have you ever noticed how Satan never tells the whole truth? He twists truths so they sound like truth, but they’re actually a lie? We had the opportunity to be a blessing for some friends who we consider family. They had a need and we were able to be used by God to fill it. There were a few brief moments in which I wondered if we had done the wrong thing in depleting our funds. It’s a hard thing to say, but I’m being honest. As soon as the thought would rise up in my mind, I would have to make an effort to squash it back down. I really wasn’t regretting the gift we had given. It was Satan coming in and whispering, “You shouldn’t have given them any money… Now you’re not going to have enough for yourself…” Did I believe it for one moment? Nope! Sure, I heard what he whispered, but I didn’t trust that there was any truth to what he was saying.
I knew we had been led to give that money. I knew that we were shown favor in what could have been a really bad situation in Oklahoma. I also knew that all of my children had been protected during our airline adventures. Additionally, I knew that my husband had been favored in his driving through Canada. Favor upon favor, I knew that I was right where I was supposed to be, doing what I was supposed to be doing, and trusting the One who provides for all of my needs.
We made it to our new home in North Carolina without breaking down. Since our arrival, Satan has tried to harass us further, but has failed at every turn. The washer in our home had to be replaced – done! Our dishwasher stopped working – also replaced! Little sugar ants started trying to invade – and they’re gone! We bought a van at a screaming deal, but then it started shaking a lot on the front end – turned out to be just the tires (already knew we were going to get tires)! The truck that had limped along went into the shop – no catalytic converter issue, just the O2 sensor to have it running like new. And an anonymous person(s) paid two months of our rent – the exact amount we had given away at God’s leading.
I hear it so often, “You take grace too far.” What is grace? One definition of grace is: the free and unmerited favor of God. Hmm.. Free and unmerited. How can you take something that is free and unmerited too far? I’ve heard many people say that we’re saved by grace through faith, but… No, there’s no but. Some say that we still have rules to follow. I believe that it’s to our advantage to make the right choices, but do I believe that God’s grace is limited? Something to chew on. Let’s break down Romans 5:6-11 (NIV)…
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:6 We were powerless to save ourselves. There wasn’t enough good that we could possibly do in order to make the grade. We. Were. Powerless. “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.” Romans 5:7 It’s highly unlikely for anyone to feel urged to sacrifice themselves for someone else – our sinful nature is a very selfish nature. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 We were powerless to save ourselves from the sin of our own making and enemies of God – yet He loved us and died for us. We did not save ourselves – God saved us.
“Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” Romans 5:9 Justified – we’ve been made right. By His grace, we have the right – we’re justified – to stand before God without fear. His wrath is never going to be poured out on us! “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Romans 5:10 Being reconciled means to be made consistent with another. Who are we reconciled to? Who are we made to be consistent with? We’re reconciled to God! “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Romans 5:11 We received this gift of salvation, this reconciliation – being made consistent and righteous – through Jesus Christ… Not through anything we could ever have done: it was all through Jesus!
Perhaps I don’t take grace far enough. While we were facing attack after attack from Satan on our journey from Alaska to North Carolina, I see God’s favor – His pure goodness and grace – in every mile. I see His provision every single time. He provided coffee (for me) and safety for myself and my children. He provided safe and swift passage through Canada for my husband. He provided an over-abundance of work this past summer (during a pandemic!) so that we had the finances needed for our move. We gave financially at His urging and He gave it back – plus some!
God’s favor has not only been seen for our family in the last year. It’s been year after year that we’ve see favor upon favor. It is not taking grace too far when we point everything we have back to God and His goodness. It’s not taking grace too far when we stand where and how we are supposed to stand. We’re to stand before God without shame (not because we’re good, but because He’s good), we’re to approach His throne boldly (not because we earned our righteousness, but because Jesus is our righteousness), and we’re to rest in the finished work that was done at the cross (there’s nothing we could ever possibly do to add to it).
My prayer is that, by sharing about our move, you’ve had the chance to see that, while Satan sent attack after attack, we were victorious each and every time. We don’t deserve God’s favor… we don’t deserve God’s grace… but He gives it to us freely. Grace upon grace… Favor upon favor.
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