Finding Grace

"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8 NLT).

Play word association and when you say "Noah" you expect to hear the response of "ark” or perhaps, "flood.” But tucked away in this story of wickedness, destruction, and deliverance is this refreshing line about grace.

Noah found grace. Noah found grace in the midst of the flood.

He was the first to do so, but certainly not the last.

It happened again last week.

A hurricane Katrina evacuee was reflecting on the destruction of all of his earthly possessions and the irony of his finding relief through Christian people at Skyline.

"For twenty years I've been running away from God, and now look who it is   taking care of me."

Grace.

Like Noah before him, this evacuee experienced God's grace in the midst of a flood.

Truth is, none of us are deserving of a relationship with God. None of us have earned His loving care. Yet when we are at our lowest, there He is, extending His grace.

Some are clueless about what is happening. They never understand God is reaching out to them. 

But others comprehend, at least to some degree, what is unfolding before them. They grasp the beautiful irony of God pouring out His blessings to the undeserving. They experience the mystery of grace.

May God open our eyes so that we might find grace in the flood.

-- Bob Clark

9/20/2005