Often, when observing or commenting upon a person who is in some dire circumstance, we may say something like, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”  The intent of this statement is to give God the glory for having rescued us from such a life or situation.  It is an acknowledgement that mankind, when left to its own devices, tends to wind up in the gutter.  Whether we overtly think of it or not, it is a reflection of the prophet’s statement, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps” (Jer. 10:23).

Those who have experienced God’s grace are understandably joyous about it, and cannot help but give thanks for it at every opportunity.  We understand from the scriptures that grace is God’s favor bestowed upon us when we did nothing to deserve it.  This favor is summarized by Paul in Rom. 5:8, where he said, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  This grace is also declared in Rom. 6:23, which says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Without God’s grace none of us would have the hope of salvation.

All who consider themselves to be Christians embrace grace as a fundamental concept in the Christian faith, but many, unconsciously perhaps, think of grace in a skewed manner.  While it is true that grace is that which we do not deserve, it is not granted arbitrarily to one, while another is excluded.  Neither is it given against one’s will.  Such ideas come from the doctrines of John Calvin, whose teaching is summarized in the acronym TULIP:  Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints.  We do not catch grace like we catch the flu.  It is offered freely to all, but it does nothing for us unless we respond in obedience to God’s will.

In 1 Cor. 15:9, 10 Paul said, “For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”  Before his conversion to Christ, Paul was a persecutor of the church and vehemently opposed to Jesus Christ.  By the grace of God, he says, he became an apostle of Christ.  That grace was offered and responded to when the Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus and told him to go into the city to be told what he must do (Acts 9:3-6).  When Ananias came to him, he was told, “Now why do you delay?  Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.” (Acts 22:16).  Saul immediately obeyed this command, and thus, by the grace of God, became an implement in the Lord’s service instead of an enemy of Christ.

The same thing is true for each of us, beginning with our obedience to the gospel.  The grace of God is given by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, which paid the price for our sins.  Until we obey the gospel, that grace is useless to us and has no effect on us.  When we are baptized for the forgiveness of our sins, we then receive His grace and become a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17).  Our response to grace is what makes the difference in our lives.  We are rescued from the domain of darkness and are transferred into the kingdom of God’s dear son (Col. 1:13).  As we continue to obey God’s word from that day forward, His grace abounds toward us and we can say as Paul did, “But by the grace of God, I am what I am.”

One of the major improvements in modern life is in the area of meal preparation.  It was not that many years ago that a woman would have to rise before light to begin making breakfast for the family.  Then, after all were fed and off to work or school, she immediately began cooking the noon meal.  This same cycle was repeated for the evening meal as well.  This lifestyle was immortalized in the 60s song, “Ode to Billie Joe,” in which the mother said, “I’ve been cooking all morning and you haven’t touched a single bite.”

In the modern world in which we live, many food items, including entire meals, come in pre-cooked, individual portions that may be warmed in an oven or a microwave in mere minutes.  No one claims that all our frozen, freeze-dried, microwave-it-back-to-life food products are as tasty or as healthy as the things our grandmothers used to cook, but we all enjoy the convenience of having a meal in the relative blink of an eye.

Microwave technology has spoiled us.  Now we are not content to wait for anything in life.  We want instant gratification, whatever it is we’re seeking.  We are no longer willing to commit any more than mere moments in a given period of time to the pursuit of anything we desire.  For many aspects of life, this kind of mentality is simply frustrating to the one who is waiting, and annoying to the one trying to fulfill a request.  In spiritual matters, this kind of mentality can be crippling to one’s development.

A story is told about N.B. Hardeman, who was one of the most gifted preachers of the early 20th century.  As he visited a man’s farm, the farmer rattled off statistic after statistic about his enterprise.  Brother Hardemen remarked that if he (Hardeman) had that kind of memory, he would memorize the entire New Testament.  The farmer responded that he couldn’t remember the Bible because his memory failed him.  Brother Hardeman later lamented that such a statement was not the result of a failed memory, but of failing desire.  If that farmer had been as interested in the Bible as he was in farming, he would have known much more about God’s book.

This is the challenge for each of us today.  Preachers often receive compliments on the way in which they expound the scriptures or on their knowledge of biblical things, as though these attributes were a gift laid upon them through no effort of their own.  While it is true that some are more gifted at teaching and public speaking then others, the fact remains that one who becomes proficient in the scriptures acquired that proficiency only through long hours of study and practice.

Jesus took nearly three years to prepare the apostles to preach and teach the gospel.  Paul, after his conversion, went away for about three years (Gal. 1:15-18) before coming back to begin his ministry.  We presume he was learning from the Lord during this time, for he says that he received the gospel through a revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:11, 12).  He also spent two years teaching the brethren in the school of Tyrannus (Acts 19:9, 10).

The point of this discussion is that proficiency in the scriptures requires a time investment by each one of us.  This is why Paul exhorted us to be diligent with God’s word so we know how to properly handle it (2 Tim. 2:15).  It is why he told us to teach faithful men who will be able to teach others (2 Tim. 2:2).  It is why each of us must make the time to give attention to God’s word on a regular basis and in a systematic fashion.  Our faith will only grow to maturity in a crock-pot environment.  There is no such things as microwave faith.

Whenever a natural disaster strikes, some people cannot help but question God because of it.  They speak of the even as “an act of God,” which makes it appear that He was responsible for it happening.  Even if they do not overtly blame God for the disaster, they impugn His name by making such a reference to it.  To call a tornado or an earthquake an act of God places Him in the company of the Gods of mythology, who often toyed with mankind by means of such events.  Our Father in heaven does not do such things.

Some, of course, are more open about their feelings.  Skeptics use such events to question why a loving God would allow such things to happen.  They do this to purposely discredit God because they do not believe in Him.  Sometimes, even believers question God by asking where He was when their loved ones were being hurt or killed, or their possessions were being destroyed.  All such questions besmirch the good name of our Father in heaven and reveal an ignorance of God’s character and the nature of the world in which we live.

According to the scriptures, God made the world and everything in it to be the perfect place for mankind to live in preparation for eternity.  In Gen. 1:31 the scripture says, “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.”   There were no natural disasters in that world; no pain, suffering or death.  All of this changed, however, when Adam and Eve sinned.  As a result of their sin, God cursed the world and caused the ground to bring forth weeds of all kinds (Gen. 3:18, 19).  Work became toil, and death became every person’s destiny.  In the days of Noah, God further cursed the world by altering the climatic conditions that had prevailed since the beginning.  The description of the flood shows the upheaval that overtook the earth to cleanse it of the wickedness that then pervaded it.  After the flood, the world became subject to the extremes of weather to which we are now accustomed.  Wind, rain, snow, hail, heat, and drought became the norm (Gen. 8:22).

When natural disasters strike, they do so because this is the nature of the world in which we live.  When bad things happen to good people, these, too, are simply the nature of the world in which we live.  In Lk. 13:1-5 the Lord spoke of such events when He commented on some Galileans who were killed by Pilate and the eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them.  He did not blame His Father, nor did He question His Father’s character because of these events.  Instead, the Lord called on people to repent because life is fragile and may be taken from them at a moment’s notice.  The Lord wanted us to understand that our eternal destiny is far more important than what happens to us in life.

The great patriarch Job suffered more losses of the type that people use to question God than any other person in scripture.  He lost his possessions at the hands of wicked people who ruthlessly attacked his holdings, and he lost his loved ones in a natural disaster that could have been a tornado (Job 1:18, 19).  His response to this calamity was to mourn his losses and to worship God (Job 1:20).  He gave glory to God and the scripture says of him, “Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.”  We should be like Job in this respect.

We sing a song that says, “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through.  My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue.”  While we mourn for those who suffer loss, and offer them help and comfort, let us also glorify God who sent His Son to afford us entrance to His unshakable kingdom where God will wipe every tear from our eyes.