Surprised By Grace

September 2008

Our journey of faith begins when God floods our soul with his presence through Christ. As new believers with intact faith, we experience life with God as ordered and satisfying. God seems to answer every prayer, even the far-fetched ones, even the ones we don’t know we need to ask yet. Blessings abound, the money we need to pay rent arrives in the nick of time and the health of our loved ones improves drastically after we pray. The presence of the Lord Jesus Christ is palpable. He walks and talks in our garden of prayer. The word of God jumps off the page and lands straight in our hearts, transforming aspects of our character we thought could never change. The psalmists sang about this blessed orientation of our faith. The truth is, we need this pabulum faith at first. John calls us little children at this stage.

Along the journey, we shed the beginner’s rosy glasses of faith. We face the giant walls of uncertainty, of injustice, of soured dreams. Faith, pained by life, learns to exist in the vacuum between belief and doubt, in the shadows of a God who seemingly has gone AWOL. But the wondering is good, and the planned absence feels more like mercy in disguise. Disorientation leads to the third leg of the journey. Grace makes new life out of despair.

Josh Groban stormed the music scene a few years back with this grace haunted melody and lyrics in his “You Raise Me Up.” Savor the words which speak of the transition from disorientation to reorientation of faith by grace.

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.
There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains; … to walk on stormy seas; I am strong, when I am on your shoulders; you raise me up: to more than I can be.

Grace is God allowing me to be more than I can be.

When grace surprises with new life it does not take us back to Egypt but ahead to Jerusalem. New life emerges out of sorrow like a phoenix from ashes, fully vibrant and alive. A real and genuine death to self occurs. Those who have waited on the Lord in the valleys of the shadows, receive new strength to soar like eagles high above the laments of life (Isaiah 40:31). The shriek of despair of the valley gives way to a grace that surprises faith with joy. Before long, the fog of darkness dissipates, goodness comes out of hiding, and a much deeper and richer rainbow of new faith emerges. Then we sing songs of thanks, confidence, victory, and praise.

Many of the Psalms of faith take up this reorientation theme I write about. They describe life touched by the mystery and miracle of grace that surprises. They lift the singers with the voice of adoration (thanksgiving and praise), in confident affirmation in the care and goodness of God, in renewal of friendship and intimacy with God.

Our brothers in the faith sang their way back to God and renewed vigor in faith. Let’s hear them in Psalm 30 (one of dozens). Take a little time and eat this Psalm. It’s a good illustration of how the faithful soul is in constant motion. If you listen carefully the life you may hear may be your own.

He sings of his faith rivaling the strength of Gibraltar: As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” (30:6) In other words, he is certain nothing bad can touch him. God shepherds, nothing lacks. Blessings galore! Who could ask for anything more? But notice the turn of events in verse 7. Picture the move from a faith oriented toward God to a faith in disarray:

By your favor, O Lord, you have established me as a strong mountain; (Now lament follows) you hid your face; I was dismayed. Lament continues: I cried; I prayed; I asked God to act, and invited him to be gracious to me (8-9). That’s the story. Things were going great with his faith. Disillusion set in because of God knows what. And now he wishes God were not missing in action.

But have you noticed verses 1-3? This song writer tells of his renewal. Listen: You have drawn me up; you have healed me; you have lifted me up; you have restored me to life (1-3). Renewal is also affirmed at the end of the psalm: You have turned my mourning into dancing, You have loosed (taken off) my sackcloth and clothed (girded) me with joy (11).

We will never know exactly what happened to this story teller/song writer. We know he has a story to tell. He tells it in song. Things were going well, then he fell into a Pit, but grace surprised him and now he has found new life. We cannot orchestrate grace. Even if we could it’s better to be surprised by it! Just like this Walker with the Master was.

For others who have a story to tell about a new orientation, consult their songs: 40; 138; 34; 65; 66; 124; 114; 29; 96; 93; 97; 98; 99; 47; 27; 23; 91; 117; 135; 103; 113; 146; 147; 148; 100; 149; 150.

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