Uncomfortable Grace

 Good morning:

 Last Sunday, I spoke to our congregation in worship services on the topic of Uncomfortable Grace.  Now, that may seem somewhat confusing, especially to someone who thinks of grace consisting of only the good things of life that come our way at the hand of God.  You know, those things like a comfortable home, transportation, adequate good food, a vocation and a job, family, and so on.  And you are correct that those things are a gift of grace from a loving God.  But there is another kind of grace that God sometimes bestows on his people…uncomfortable grace…the kind of grace that, when we see it we often don’t recognize it as grace at all, but rather we see it as something bad…something we don’t like and don’t want to be part of.

This kind of grace might be something like the loss of a job, or perhaps an extended illness.  It might be some kind of medical issue or perhaps a family problem.  These things are events which disrupt our normal routine in life.  They force us to re-focus on our priorities.  They make us re-think how we do things and how we think about things.  And when we have to do those things, it’s always uncomfortable for us because those things get us out of our life ruts and force us to look beyond the here and now.

But in the end, these things which disrupt us often also refine us…remold us…remake us into better people, more dependent on the God of the universe and much less dependent upon our own strength and ability.  I am, over time, posting many of the writings of my childhood and lifetime friend Karl Detweiler on my Facebook page.  Karl had a great job with Duncan Aviation in the Omaha area, was a family man and was enjoying life…up until his doctor told him he had terminal cancer.  He died a little over a year later, but wrote extensively on his Facebook page about his journey with cancer.

For Karl, life took a most unexpected and unwanted turn.  He has always embraced the Christian life.  But in the process of coming to terms with his newfound lot in life, it is easy to see through Karl’s writing the process of him being refined, remolded, and remade.  His example in those last months has made a lasting impression on many…his family, his friends, his co-workers, and all of those who are reading those posts I’m putting on my Facebook page.  Even in death, Karl still speaks…still teaches…still encourages…and continues to embrace his God and Lord.

For many of us, the unexpected turn in life may not be as critical as was what hit Karl.  For many of us, those unexpected turns may be as benign as being caught in traffic or stopped by a train while going to an appointment…and then being late for the appointment.  It might be a phone call saying that the repairman can’t be at your house today as scheduled, and could he reschedule.

Or it could be that your car died at the stop light and won’t start.  Or maybe you’ve gotten the 24 hour stomach virus and the plans you had for that day will have to be postponed or canceled.

You get the idea.  Whether it’s cancer or your car battery conking out at a light, these kinds of unexpected turns work, if we’ll let them, to mold and shape us into better people…better human beings.  How we respond to these things is the key.

Do we do the “woe is me,” trip and become angry that we can’t do what we wanted to do?  Or do we look over the situation and deal with what comes our way in a mature and measured way?

One way to gauge our response is to think about what happens inside our heads when someone in traffic appears to cut us off, or maybe doesn’t use their turn signal, or pulls into our lane right in front of us.  Do we become upset or even angry with them?  Or do we slow down, wonder if they’re maybe having a bad day, and give them and ourselves room and just continue on our way?  How we handle these kinds of minor annoyances is a good way to determine how we will handle the more serious side of things.

I believe that God many times gives us these unexpected twists and turns in life for a reason…not to punish us or for some kind of sadistic pleasure…but rather to refine us and mature us…to help us understand that life isn’t always unicorns and rainbows…and to encourage us to look beyond the here and now to the not yet…the promise of a life to come that is free from the trials and pains of this life…free from the consequence of sin that has resulted in a fallen creation.

May you be encouraged as you also look beyond what this life has to offer, and see what is being prepared for those who have decided to follow Jesus…our Lord and Savior.

 Blessings.