Recipients of God’s Grace

   Late one afternoon while I was outside walking the dogs, the telephone rang. The cordless phone happened to be in the pocket of my jacket; otherwise, I would have missed the call. After saying “hello?” someone on the other end of the line asked a strange question.

   “Do you know Albert?”

   Well yes, I do know someone named Albert—my husband. But he usually goes by “Al.” This sounded a little unusual and since it was getting dark and Al wasn’t home at that time, I decided to hang up.

    A few minutes later the phone rang again. This time the dogs and I were walking towards their dog run. I put them inside and locked the gate before answering the call. It was the same person asking if I knew Albert. What to do? I hung up for a second time.

    It either had to be a very bold telemarketer or something had happened to Al. Just when I was thinking that hanging up on the man was a mistake, the phone rang for the third time. He didn’t give up easily!

    When he proceeded to tell me that he was a police officer and was trying to reach Albert Lowery, it caught my attention! An insert of a wallet had been found in the parking lot of a store containing several important cards, including a Medicare card and one with a social security number. After I apologized profusely for hanging up on him twice, he explained that someone had turned in the insert. That is how he found our phone number.

    About that time, Al was on his way from the gym to a meeting. The officer drove to the meeting place, arriving just about the same time as Al. Sure enough, after checking in his wallet, he discovered that it was missing. He hadn’t realized that it was even gone and gave the man his heartfelt thanks.

   The officer called back for the fourth time that evening, letting me know that everything worked out well. We both appreciated the extra effort and the patience he exerted in making sure that Al got his missing cards back. God was watching over us, we knew!

    A few weeks passed and then something else happened, which again made us both realize the wonder of God’s grace and protection over us. Al was pushing a shopping cart out of a store into the pedestrian crossing zone when a car slowed down and came to a stop so that he could go across. Just as he stepped out, a second car sped by passing the one which had stopped. It didn’t hit Al, but it did graze the front of his shopping cart!

   The driver went around a couple of lanes as Al was going to his car, stopped and then accused Al of hitting his vehicle on purpose! He claimed that he was going to call the police!  Thankfully there were several employees who had observed the incident. They called the store manager who was nearby. The manager notified the police and reported what they had seen. Al was concerned about his safety, so one of the employees stayed by him.

    When the police arrived, the car was nearby and the young man was given a ticket for reckless driving. A police officer stayed close to Al until it was safe for him to drive away.

    Thank God for His protection and for watching over us constantly. Protection is just one aspect of His grace, His unmerited favor towards those who put their trust in Him. Through faith, we are recipients of God’s grace daily. His gifts of salvation and eternal life, His love, protection, forgiveness, mercy and so much more are made available because Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty once and for all for the sins of mankind. Let us rejoice in His abundant, overflowing grace!

“From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:15 NIV