Amazing grace how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I'm found
was blind, but now I see.
Such familiar words, even more familiar tune. You can't help but hear the music when you read the words...almost as if they didn't exist before the song was written. We hear it so often, we have become nearly numb to the message. As I pondered the title of my blog tonight, I let the words sink down deep into my soul and settle there for a while.
"I once was lost" Boy was I ever! I have always believed in God, always put my faith in him, always loved him. But I didn't always follow him. There was a period of my life where I walked away. I really didn't want him bugging me to come back. I was having too much fun and didn't want it to end just yet. I kept him in my rear view mirror, just in case I got too far away and needed some help, but I really didn't want him to get in the way of where I was going. I woke up one day and realized I didn't know where I was or who I was. I was lost.
"Was blind" I had no idea how my actions were hurting those around me and my witness. I had professed Christ since I was six years old. I followed hard after Him in my early teens. But somehow the pull of the world I was living in swept me under like a rip tide and before I knew it, I was so far out, I couldn't see the shore. I couldn't see how the weight of my sin kept me from swimming back to safety.
"That saved a wretch like me" In the middle the tumultuous sea of my life, a life preserver was thrown in to me. As 1 Corinthians 10:13 says: "And God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." He absolutely provided the way out in the form of a move out of state, away from the temptation. The very God I sought to leave behind, reached down to save this wretch and put my feet on dry land.
"But now I'm found" He found me...while I was lost, while I was still a wretch...He found ME! In the vast sea of humanity, he saw me drowning in my sin. I didn't find him...He found me. I wasn't searching for him, I wasn't seeking him, I didn't even really WANT to be found by him, but he found me anyway.
"But now I see" He opened my eyes, took off the blinders and gave me courage to look at my sinfulness and the mess I'd made of things. He allowed me to see that I had a deep need for a savior...even while I believed. He not only allowed me to see myself, but he allowed me to see him. In all of his righteousness and glory, I saw him and his relentless love. I fell on my face in the floor of my bedroom, and as a 21 year old, surrendered the remainder of my life to whatever he had planned for me.
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound" There is no sweeter sound to my ears than the words 'amazing grace'. It never ceases to amaze me...it never will. I have no idea why He chose to redeem this life. Why He chose to give me so much more than I ever dreamed or hoped or believed was possible. No one deserved it less. No one is more appreciative. It will forever be the song of my heart. His grace still amazes me.
"Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come.
'Tis grace that brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home."
2 comments:
As one who has been ministered to by His amazing grace through you, I thank you. I see Him more clearly because of you. Thank you too for giving me the privilege of walking alongside you through "many dangers, toils and snares" and fun times too. By His grace we are on our way home!
Love you, Sheryl! It is my pleasure to walk alongside you...and share in his grace!
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