I am a witness to God’s grace.

Luke 4:18-19 English Standard Version

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

For me the year of the Lord’s favor occurred immediately after my first wife’s death.

That year began with a prayer on my part. “Show me your will for my life.”

Then signs and wonders began painting a picture of a woman. If I were to share all those signs it would detract from the results of God’s will that showed itself at the end of that year.

Her prayer was “Show me your will for my life.” That prayer came after the sudden death of her fiancé. We prayed the same prayer and the Lord answered our prayers by joining us together. Our first date began with the Lord showing me “She is the one.” That date lasted twelve hours. Best date ever for both of us.

I lived in Del Valley and worked in Austin. She lived in San Marcos and worked in San Antonio. After we got married I sold my house and moved in with her in San Marcos. That is when we searched for a local church for worship and how I came to find God’s gracious gift of fellowship.

How we ended up together in a new home church was a matter of God moving the pieces around the board until all the pieces fit to serve His will for us, together. It has been eighteen years and six months of being in God’s will and serving Him to His glory, not mine.

Returning again to the issue of grace, it was in this church that I have grown more in grace than any other church. Being surrounded in grace healed me of things I was not even aware of in the life I lived seeking knowledge.

It was there that I discovered how to apply the gift given.

Ephesians 4:8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

Knowing what gift is given does not tell you how to use it. Grace does.

Amos 7:14-15 English Standard Version

14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. 15 But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

Amos was sent by God in a time and a place where no one who served Israel was listening to the Lord. If we look for God’s grace in Amos it is not obvious to others who do not understand God’s plan.

Amos is a gracious gift to us that live now and can see we do not have to be special to be used to serve our Lord. How else would we know that God works in us even if we do not see it?

I often thank God to have been born in this generation rather than in the time of Amos and now have such a great cloud of witnesses around me that have treated me so graciously when I was broken and in need of tenderness, not judgment.

My first church experience began with tears on my part. I knew I was broken and trying desperately to find my way in a land I did not know. As the newest citizen of His Kingdom I knew nothing except I didn’t belong. I sat under some of the best teachers in any church and I learned so much. Thanks be to God for that but I only had one in that church who listened to me with a heart of grace and concern for me and my growth.

That church became a place of comfort and protection and then the one who was gracious to me left after the death of his son. I struggled once again, feeling alone and unwanted. It was about this time the Lord said “Go.” I resisted for a time until a prophet from England came and spoke at that church. It was through that prophet that the Lord made it obvious to me that I was to “Go to a place I will show you.”

My next five years were spent serving a dying wife. It was during those days that I learned what it meant to be needed and how to be faithful to do what was needed. I went from being selfish to being selfless. I did not find another church until after her death.

Then I sat under a young pastor that had the deepest understanding of the Word I had ever heard. His teachings were light in a dark place. I stayed there for a year and left because that pastor had not one ounce of grace in his life. I realized the need for grace overshadowed knowledge.

My next church was full of grace and became my home.