This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing” and I feel led to tell you a story. It is a story about a little boy who was the first of his family to be born in a new country. His parents immigrated to the United States in hopes of walking through new doors of opportunity. Two years after their arrival their bouncing baby boy was born. But soon after the doctors told the boy’s mother that he needed a leg brace to ensure his legs grew properly and that without the brace the boy might grow up to walk with a limp. Because the mother did not yet have her green card, she had to leave the country with the boy and head back to her native land when the boy was just five months old. Doctors there told the mother that the boy did not need the brace, but she was concerned when at 13 months old he had never taken a step. She and the boy’s grandmother kept praying and trusting God. One day, after a trip to the store, she arrived at her mother-in-law’s house to find a crowd. The neighborhood was bustling with something and they asked the boy’s mother to stand in front of the house, while the crowd held the little boy at the other side. When they let him go the 13-month-old took off running towards his mother. The first steps she ever saw him take were in the form of a sprint. The boy never wore the brace again.
The next concern was that the boy’s soft-spot was not closing. Although a child’s soft-spot commonly closes around 18 months old, the boy was 3 yrs. old and his soft-spot was still open. The family was back in the U.S. by this point and the doctors gave the mother concerning news. They said, “This may cause your son to be either mentally retarded or very bright.” While today I believe that diagnosis might be bogus, back then the mother believed the doctors and she was once again very concerned about her boy. Around this time she and the boy’s father divorced. She was living in a foreign land and the boy was now all she had.
One day the little boy was playing outside when he ran after a ball into the street. Before anyone could stop it a 1975 Lincoln Continental (built like a tank) hit the 3 yr. old. He was hit so hard that he slid under a van. The boy’s uncle pulled him from under the van and he had blood coming out of his ears, nose, and mouth; and he was unconscious. The mother jumped into a cab with her unconscious and bleeding son. She had already lost her marriage and it looked like she was about to lose her son. She looked down at her seemingly lifeless son and then looked up to the God of her youth. She called out to God and promised to GIVE GOD the boy if God would spare his life. When she did the boy suddenly woke up. Soon after a team of doctors performed 12 x-rays and ran a battery of tests, and were all completely baffled. The doctors could see the blood on the mother’s and the boy’s clothes, but the little 3 yr. old had not lost any blood. The doctors could not find internal bleeding, any bruises, any cuts, or anything wrong with the boy whatsoever. They kept him in the hospital for three days for observation and he enjoyed ice cream and cool toys the entire time. The boy sat there without a care in the world, and without a pain in his body. The doctors released the boy calling it a miracle.
I could go on, but let me shorten the story by telling you this. The boy grew up in New York City and he cheated death so many times that his friends dubbed him, “El Santo,” or “The Saint.” I am the boy and it is clear that God was protecting me for my purpose. I am not sure if my soft spot not closing had anything to do with the car accident, but I know the Lord was protecting me for His assignment for my life. Not always because of my mother’s prayers, not always because I was so good (because I wasn’t), the Lord was working in my life by grace. And guess what? He still is! Isn’t grace amazing?
So what does this mean to you today? A few quick things:
1. Before you were born God made plans for you by grace.
2. All your life the Lord has been protecting you for your purpose, to fulfill His plan for your life, and He has been doing it by grace.
3. You don’t deserve all God has done for you, and you could never earn it. All you can do with grace is receive it.
4. The more you think about God’s immeasurable grace, the more you will be amazed by it and by how much God loves you.
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for making plans for me before the foundations of the world. You thought about me and made plans for me well before my mother met my father. I was born on purpose and with a purpose. And all my life You have been working both behind the scenes and in ways that are clearly seen, in order to protect me for my purpose. You were there for me when I did not acknowledge You whatsoever. You have made ways for me during times when I completely disrespected You. Your love for me has never changed. It has truly been unconditional, even when my acknowledgement of You came with all sorts of conditions. Thank You Father for being so good to me. You loved me, planned for me, blessed me, and protected me; not because I deserved it, but simply because of Your grace. I could never pay You back and I know You don’t want me to even try. So instead I commit to living out the rest of my days in full pursuit of Your purpose for me. I chase after You and I am committed to finding, following, and finishing my purpose before I die. Your investment in me shall not be in vain. I will honor You while I am in the land of the living and You will get the glory out of my life. That is my commitment to You Father! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
