Grace Surprises Us

Reflect and pray

The sermon told stories of surprising grace. John Newton, the slave trader, became a hymn writer. John Bunyan, the chief of sinners, became a preacher of grace. And children—yes, children—sometimes articulate a faith more genuine than the adults around them. Jesus said the Spirit blows where He wills. That means God saves whom He chooses, when He chooses, in ways that often confound our expectations.

It is easy to become a spiritual fatalist. We look at a hardened heart, a rebellious child, or a cynical friend, and we conclude that the soil is too rocky for the seed to grow. But we are not the gardeners; we are the sowers. Only God makes things grow. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead can awaken a soul that has been asleep for decades. The same grace that captured a murderer on a Damascus road can capture a third-grader during a Sunday school lesson. Do not underestimate the surprising work of God.

This should humble us and embolden us. It humbles us because we must admit that we do not know whom God will save. It emboldens us because we know that no one is beyond His reach. The text says, 'Do not hinder them,' partly because we cannot see what the Spirit is already doing in a heart. That child asking questions about baptism may be closer to the kingdom than the elder who has known the creeds for fifty years. That neighbor who mocked your faith last year may be the next trophy of grace.

Your job is not to predict the harvest. Your job is to keep sowing, keep praying, and keep welcoming. Do not let your assumptions build walls where God is building bridges. He is full of surprises, and the greatest surprise of all is that He would save a wretch like you. Let that wonder fuel your hope for everyone else.