Fingerprints of Grace

8/2/2009

2 Chronicles 33:12 12 When he was in distress, he entreated the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

New American Standard Bible

Distress, if seen correctly, is a good thing. It is for sure an unpleasant thing, but it isn’t a bad thing. Many avoid distress thinking they don’t deserve it or they completely misunderstand the grace and benefits of being dragged off to Babylon with a hook in their nose; bound with bronze chains…

King Manasseh of Judah as he is portrayed in 2 Kings 21, is a bad, bad dude; so bad, he’s apparently beyond reach. But in 2 Chronicles 33, Manasseh, ‘when he was in distress…humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers’ – the God he’d completely forgot about in 2 Kings 21. I think God’s fingerprints of grace are all over this one.

Recent distress in my own life has caused me to see things differently; to see things in a way that was otherwise impossible for me to see. That is the blessing and benefit of grace – even when it comes with hooks and chains…or whatever method God will chose to us in the life of His child. So, I thank God for bumps and bruises, and also for bronze hooks and chains; as long as I am enabled to see afresh, and His grace and mercy remains.

Father in Heaven,

You love me sooooo much! You care for me so much that You would throw Yourself in front of an oncoming car and take the hit just to save me. Kinda like You allowed Yourself to be dragged off to suffer and die on the cross so that I could be eternally free. And You allow, even orchestrate, suffering and distress in my life so that I can clearly see how high and how wide and how deep is Your love for me. Father, whatever it takes to make me into the man of God You created me to be – do not stay Your hand, I pray in Jesus’ Name, amen.