Grace Happens!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I like to make lists. So I started making a list of all the good things God is doing in our lives that we can't control or prevent.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/knackfornoticing\/2011\/01\/grace-happens\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grace Happens!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I like to make lists. 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{"id":89,"date":"2011-01-28T17:34:44","date_gmt":"2011-01-28T23:34:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/knackfornoticing\/?p=89"},"modified":"2016-01-30T07:28:39","modified_gmt":"2016-01-30T13:28:39","slug":"grace-happens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/knackfornoticing\/2011\/01\/grace-happens\/","title":{"rendered":"Grace Happens!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/a> $\"\"$ <\/a>I just got back from leading a retreat for Christian Educators at Camp Allen, a beautiful Episcopalian Retreat Center in Navasota, Texas. As 30 of us sat studying the parables, we came to the parable of the seeds growing secretly (Mark 4:26-29). As the winter sunshine streamed through the windows and lit up our faces,\u00a0 one person spoke up. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s hard for us to accept that there are good things that God does that we can\u2019t prevent from happening. Maybe we like to think that we\u2019re in charge of and can take credit for all the good things that happen in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you ever meditate on the good things God does that we never even thought of, never begged for, to this day think are impossible?\u00a0<\/p>\n

That got me thinking about the 8^{th<\/sup> chapter of Romans as Paul\u2019s witness to the good things we can\u2019t stop God from doing in the bad times. Since I like to make lists, I started a list of good things we can\u2019t stop God from doing in our lives and world. It\u2019s a work in progress, but here is what I have so far. \u00a0<\/p>\n}

For one thing, we can\u2019t stop God from holding out the gift of eternal life to us, that makes the sufferings of the present time pale in comparison. We tend to rewrite scripture when we come to Romans 8:18, so absorbed are we in our own pain, and put different words in Paul\u2019s mouth \u201cI consider that the glory that is to come is as nothing compared to the suffering of this present time.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 And for some people, given the poverty and abuse of their lives, that is the obvious choice. It\u2019s up to the church, by the Grace of God, \u00a0to seek to \u00a0alleviate the sufferings of this present time, bringing some of the future glory to bear in current conditions in our communities by being salt and light to the world.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The African American Spirituals had it right\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve got a home in Glory land that\u2019ll outshine the sun.\u201d\u00a0 If slaves with straps on their backs and Paul in prison can get this verse right, then let\u2019s pray to God together that we can look up in our sufferings and take comfort in the shine, the music, the glory to come. But let\u2019s also be attentive to others in their sufferings and bring them comfort. \u00a0Let\u2019s keep reminding one another that we can\u2019t stop God. We can\u2019t stop God from holding out the glory of an eternal life of joy beyond all joys that begins now.<\/p>\n

For another thing, we can\u2019t stop God from praying for us, through us. \u00a0A man once asked his wife to come with him to talk with the pastor about the downward spiral their marriage was taking. \u201cJust come one time, please. Let\u2019s take it to God in prayer. Let\u2019s get some direction,\u201d he requested. \u00a0She replied,\u00a0 \u201cWhat good would that do? Our problems are too deep for prayer!\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul would disagree. Paul would say, \u00a0\u201cGod\u2019s own Spirit helps us in our weakness when we don\u2019t know how to pray as we ought.\u201d But maybe Paul never had the kinds of troubled relationships that we have.<\/p>\n

For another thing, we can\u2019t stop God from working good in situations where we see only pain and loss. \u201cThis is a bad situation. \u201d We pronounce a verdict and will not allow the case to be appealed.\u00a0 We can spot a downward trend,\u00a0 We know a hopeless case. We know how to read an xray. There can be no good here.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Paul would say that \u201cWe know that all things work together for good for those who love God\u201d (Romans 8:28).\u00a0But then maybe Paul just hadn\u2019t been in as many dangerous and negative situations as we have.<\/p>\n

Nor can we keep God from being present just because we\u2019ve marked God absent. Job berated God for not showing up in his time of need, and then God showed up in a way that was not to be ignored. Jesus on the cross in Matthew in his human pain and despair cried out \u201cMy God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?\u201d (Mt 24:46), but God had by no means forsaken him.<\/p>\n

Suffering and anxiety preoccupy us so that we can\u2019t feel the presence of God and so we mark God absent.\u00a0 As if just because we don\u2019t feel God present, that means God isn\u2019t present? But thank God we can\u2019t keep God out that way. Our despair is no barricade to God\u2019s entry into the situation. \u201cGod\u2019s not here,\u201d we say as soon as suffering hits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Paul would say something different. \u201cWhat and who will separate us from the love of Christ?\u201d<\/p>\n

And there is only one person in this world that can separate us from God. That is us.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"