In 1992, when I was 19, I got the incredible experience to travel to Barcelona, Spain with a mission team. I thought that I would be used by God in a mighty way while I was there...afterall, isn't that why He called me to this mission trip? Boy, was I young and arrogant! To my disappointment, after spending five weeks in the streets filled with Olympic athletes and tourists, I only got to share my salvation with a few people that would listen. One woman prayed to receive the Lord as her Savior. I was really disappointed with this outcome. I didn't understand why the Lord would send me across the world to share His Word and only have one person be saved.
Our mission team had some guest evangelists that came and spoke to our team a few times during those five weeks. One man, I don't even remember his name, spoke on the subject of grace. I had been a Christian for several years already at this time, but really lacked knowledge in this area. Honestly, there were some things that he spoke about that confused me. I knew that I couldn't just pick up the phone and call my dad, my pastor or my friends and ask questions. Of course, this was at a time when cell phones weren't carried by just everyone! For the first time in my life I had to depend on just God. It was one of most incredible journey's that the Lord has ever taken me on! I realized many years later that this was the very reason that I went to Barcelona. God had to take me out of my comfort zone in order for me to truly learn how to lean on Him and Him alone.
That 5 weeks in Barcelona has been a time that I have reflected on many times during my life. I can't believe that it was 18 years ago! My understanding of grace as I know it today started during the summer of 1992 and continues to overwhelm me today! I don't understand why my God chose to grace me with His love, His salvation, His mercy...but He did...and I'm so grateful for it.
If you'd like to understand more on this topic I would encourage you to open your Bible to the book of Romans and start reading. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you learn.
I would also suggest that you take a few key words in the Bible and compare them and their meaning with other passages that use the same words. For example, you could look up the words: Grace, Love, God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Word, Truth, Life... find every verse that those words are in. Find out how that particular word is defined each time it's used. Make sure to know the context that the word is used in too. This is a very eye-opening exercise to do and I'm sure that anyone that does this won't regret it!
The Bible (God's Holy Word) tell us in Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;..." Wow! This means that there is nothing we can do to earn God's grace, we can can't work for it, we can never be "good enough"...we only get it because He gifts us with it. For this reason we have grateful hearts...for this reason we want to do good works.
This is and has been one of my very favorite songs for several years. It's a wonderful reminder to me that I would be nothing without Him...Were it Not for Grace...
