The Miracle of Grace

Many conversion stories I have heard go something like this: "Before I met Christ, I was a terrible person. I was far from God and deeply involved in sin. Thankfully, the grace of God reached down to me and saved me from my sin." 

Over the years, I’ve enjoyed hearing many such stories. It’s exciting to hear how God can rescue people in the middle of the worst sins imaginable and give them a life that is pure and full of purpose for Him.

However, my personal testimony does not follow that format. 

Saving Grace

I grew up in a Christian family with five older brothers and sisters. While I do not remember much at such an early age, I do remember being the prime target for their evangelism efforts. After all, they had been taught to reach others for Christ, and there weren’t many heathens to reach in their homeschool setting. They must have realized the best object of their efforts was the one unbeliever living in the house–their little sister. 

I remember the day when my older brother pulled me aside and told me he was very worried about me. After all, I wasn’t saved, and that needed to be changed since Jesus could come back that very night. 

I promptly ran into my mom and dad’s bedroom, buried my face in the comforter, and prayed something along the lines of, “Jesus, I want to be a Christian. Please save me.”

Running back to my brother, I proudly announced that I was now a Christian! However, he informed me that what I had done wasn’t enough. He said I couldn’t just pray because someone told me to, but that I had to be sorry for my sins. Although his correction seemed to oddly contradict everything he had just told me, it actually opened my eyes to the fact that just because everyone around me was a Christian did not make me one too.

That night, I lay in bed with my older sister trying to go to sleep. Even though I was only four years old, I suddenly understood what my siblings had been telling me. I did have sin in my life, and I knew that if Jesus came back that night, I wasn’t ready to live with Him. My sister suddenly noticed I was crying and asked what was wrong. I told her I wanted to pray to be saved with our mom, but that she was already sleeping and wouldn’t want to be woken. My sister assured me that this was something worth waking Mom up for!

And so that night, I knelt at the couch with my mom and sister and prayed for Jesus to forgive me for my sins and to help me to live for him. That day was over twenty-eight years ago, but I can safely say it was the best decision I ever made. 

Daily Grace

As the years go by, I am continually convinced that my conversion story is one of the most grace-filled there could ever be. While perhaps I was not old enough to have committed many of the “terrible” sins we sometimes associate with the grace of God, I am still amazed at the grace God showed me then and continues to show me on a daily basis. How beautiful that the Creator of the universe chose to look down on a scared little girl and offer her saving grace! And how incredibly merciful is our God that he continually offers us daily grace.

One of my favorite songs words it so perfectly. 

“Grace isn't through when it rescues the sinner

It doesn't end with Salvation's song

For the rest of our days, grace is a river

That flows through our lives and carries us on.” (1)

Dallas Willard says,

To "grow in grace" means to utilize more and more grace to live by, until everything we do is assisted by grace. Then whatever we do in word or deed will all be done in the name of the Lord Jesus (Colossians 3:17). The greatest saints are not those who need less grace, but those who consume the most grace, who indeed are most in need of grace–those who are saturated by grace in every dimension of their being. Grace to them is like breath. (2)

I have found this to be true in my own life. As a four-year-old little girl, I needed God’s saving grace. Now, as a wife, missionary, pastor’s wife, and teacher, I need His daily grace just as desperately. His grace has carried me through failures, disappointments, weaknesses, and seasons where I simply did not have strength of my own.

No matter where you are in your walk with the Lord today, may I remind you that God has the grace you need! Whether you feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit drawing you to salvation, or you simply need fresh grace to fulfill the responsibilities God has given you, His grace is sufficient. It was enough to save us, and it is enough to sustain us.

1 The Collingsworth Family. “Altar of Grace.” Mercy & Love. StowTown Records, 2013.

2 Willard, Dallas. Renovation of the Heart: Putting On the Character of Christ. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2002