Unfathomable Kindness and Grace

“That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:7 AV)

We often get bogged down with that side of God which requires justice and judgment that we forget He is a God of kindness and grace.  We forget the LORD desires to show kindness by His grace.  Not that He simply does, but that His desire is to show it.  He looks for opportunity to show His grace.  This looking for is not limited to the present.  It is planned on for the future.  “That in the ages to come he might…” indicates that our gracious God is not content to show grace and kindness now and again.  Rather, He is anticipating on doing so in the future.

One of the kindest men I know is my father-in-law.  Probably because of what he did for a living.  His kindness towards those whom he loves is admirable, to say the least.  It was the balance of what he had to do to earn a living.  He worked in the heavy construction business.  More of his time was spent as a foreman or project manager than a laborer.  This required some hard-nosed decisions.  There were times he had to go toe-to-toe with an agency or government to get the necessary permits or approvals.  There were times he sat in meetings will well-intentioned paper pushers who didn’t have a clue regarding the practical side of running a multi-million-dollar project.  But the hardest, I believe, was finding that balance between pushing his guys and also caring for them too.  Over the decades, he has no doubt had to fire hundreds of laborers who failed in their jobs.  These people had mouths to fill.  They had mortgages to pay.  Yet, because of the demands of the job, they simply couldn’t perform.  This influenced his love for his family.  While on the job, management of the job often required a lack of grace.  Off the job, grace abounded.  On the job, kindness may have been a hindrance to the task at hand.  Off the job, kindness was a way of life.  My wife and I, with our children would not have survived our young life without the kindness of a man who has no equals.

God is even more so.  If we know Christ, then we are a child of God.  Any father with a conscience desires to show kindness and grace to his children.  No less the LORD.  We certainly do not deserve it.  We certainly did not earn it.  But it comes anyway.  We see what we want to see.   If we are not looking for the grace of God, we will not see it.  However, if we seek the grace and kindness of God, that is all we see!