GRACE

November 4, 2009

GRACE

He was probably fulfilling a life-long dream, riding shotgun with his friend in a fighter jet! As the plane rolled, he grabbed for something to brace himself. Turns out he did more than brace himself – he fulfilled a nightmare. Instead of the side of the seat he accidently grabbed the eject lever. In a nanosecond he was shot through the canopy 300 feet into the air by his rocket powered seat.

Now, what would you be thinking at that moment? Unless you were very familiar with jets, I believe you would be thinking, “I’m a dead man! I’m in the air on a SEAT with no wings or landing gear!”

After his ascension peaked, a parachute automatically deployed, gently lowering him to earth. Experts say he was lucky to escape unharmed, that if his posture had been slightly different at ejection he could have sustained severe spinal cord injuries or death.

GRACE

How many times in life do we grab what we think will help us, provide security, buffer life’s jarring maneuvers only to find ourselves falling? How many times do we discover too late that the things that promise stability actually send us into helplessness? It’s not that we are trying to get into trouble; it’s just that we have not yet learned what we should be grabbing on to.

God shakes His head, smiles at our confusion, and provides a parachute to get us back to reality safely. There’s still a pretty jolt when we hit the ground, but we realize we survived that which we had no business surviving. Left to ourselves we should be walking away with serious injuries or worse. And He asks, “Now, what have we learned here?”

GRACE

The undeserved, unearned, unwarranted, unmerited, unjustified favored position with God.

What will you do with God’s grace today?

Boldly, Herb

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