Mike Gilland
Just about everyone knows the song “Amazing Grace,” and many would be familiar with the backstory of its composition by author John Newton.
I have learned that these two words are much more than a song title. They also describe a most powerful truth in my personal life as I have been the recipient, time and time again, of nothing less than God’s amazing grace.
For example, as a young child growing up in a rural spot in southern Indiana, I had plenty of country adventures that could have—and probably should have—ended my life.
One of those memories came back to me yesterday. I shudder to think that such a thing could ever happen to one of my grandkids.
I was about 7 or 8, and on that particular day, I was outdoors playing near my grandfather’s hog pen. He raised hogs and chickens, boarded ponies, and had a couple of acres of magnificent corn potatoes and other vegetables.
On that fall afternoon, I was alone and in full “Daniel Boone” mode, imagining I was escaping an attack from the bad guys. I hastily went up and over my grandfather’s pig pen wire fence, and promptly ripped open a two-inch gash on my forearm.
Now, what happened next is a pure example of God’s grace in my life. No, it wasn’t that I quickly and safely returned to my home to tell my mom about the accident.
Instead, I followed the example of a western TV show that I had recently seen and used some of the mud in pig pen to “pack my arm” to stop the bleeding. Hey—it worked for those guys, so it had to work for me, right?
About an hour later, I returned to my home and proudly showed my Mom my trophy injury. I honestly thought she was going to faint – and we were off to the races to properly clean that wound, and then on to the doctor to receive medical treatment.
Now as an adult, when I think back to that instance, and so many others, I truly marvel that I lived beyond my own foolish decisions and made it to this day. And I don’t think for a moment that it was luck or coincidence either. I believe that God was watching over me, protecting me from my own unwise decisions and leading me to a place of growth and maturity.
Matthew 6 teaches us that our Heavenly Father watches over even the birds of the air and makes the declaration that we humans are much more valuable than they are. His eye is on the sparrow. And by His amazing grace, which was unearned and undeserved, He was watching over me.