Visible Grace

"Under His wings, you will find refuge..."

                        ~ Ps. 91:4

When Christians are hurt by other Christians or even their own church family, the pain and residue from the wound is severe and it remains for longer than we would like to admit.

Many leave the Church, never to return; others find new church homes among new believers.
In either case, Christians, once hurt, retreat.

Personally, I adhere to the military view on such things; I never retreat, sometimes I do, however, advance in the opposite direction.


Christians retreat away from pain; sometimes finding their way back into the church - laying low, waiting to see if they will be hurt again.
And this is unfortunate because many times, the very last place you will find grace and forgiveness is within the walls of the Church.

As a result, many Christians are forced to look elsewhere for those images of God we should be able to find within the Body.

This isn't unknown; Jesus Himself found flashes of His Father among prostitutes, poverty stricken widows, seeking tax collectors, defiled lepers and a host of others society had written off.
He shunned those who declared themselves righteous and was drawn to those who called themselves sinners.
After 2,000 years we may think that things would have changed; still, we find images of grace, humility and the mercy of God in some of the most unlikely places.

As we view the world today, we see only brief glimpses of what once was in Paradise during humanity's time within the perfect fellowship our forerunners squandered with God.

Yet, those glimpses are there - in believers enjoying the sacrificial nature of feeding and caring for the homeless; in ministries offering an alternative to abortion for crisis pregnancies; in the genuine fellowship of the brokenness of the Cross...and a host of other avenues.

God is in these places and a thousand more you may have never dreamed of; to find Him, you must look for Him and I promise He will be there.
He is still present in His people and His creation;yet, your sight has been so marred by the fall of man that we must actively look for His fingerprints to find Him amid the flash and glitter of the world.

Many years ago, when the Spanish explorers first made the trans-Atlantic sail to the New World and found the headwaters of the Amazon, they thought the mighty river was an extension of the ocean.
As days passed, floating on one of the largest sources of freshwater on the planet, they never thought to drink it and some sailors died of dehydration and thirst atop that river.

In our age, the unchurched and many believers as well are simply dying.
Too many are spiritually starving to death while all around them is the bread of life and the manna from heaven is rotting.
Why?

Simply because the Christian who is in the pew - whether they be hurting or helping - are simply looking for God in something else than how He has revealed Himself in the simple things in their life.
It may be through a ministry in service or it might be through you being served; either way, God Himself shows up in our lives when compassion and grace is involved and extended.

There are ministries and churches who proclaim the God of Negativity and Hellfire.
While judgment is sure and certain, today remains a day of grace; and there is much to be thankful for in our lives in this age.

What do you see?

Just since I was a child, the God of Communism is dead, we have cleaner air and cleaner water than at any other time since I've been alive.
In America, we have a greater freedom than nearly every person on earth - freedom of travel, of ownership, even of thought. 

We can look and see what we want to see - the Grace of God in our lives OR God gearing up for the judgement.

I promise you, whatever you are looking for, you will find it in abundance.

Above all other people, within and among God's people, we ought to be able to see traces of God's image and His handiwork as He has repaired our lives.
The truth is that God is already present in our lives, we just need to make Him visible to the unbelieving world through grace, mercy and compassion.

Until next time, go win one for the good guys.