Why Am I Surprised by Grace?

It took me long enough, but I finally got it.

Have you ever been surprised when you’ve prayed for something important to you, and God does “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20)?

I have, not that I’m complaining! I’m often surprised. Amazed. Even overwhelmed. And I have to ask, Why? Why am I surprised at how God responded?

After all, isn’t it what I asked Him to do? And haven’t I been teaching Bible studies for decades, quoting verses such as:

• “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).
• “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13).
• “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7).
• “This is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us” (1 John 5:14).

Of course, each of these verses includes a qualification: “delight yourself in the Lord,” “ask in my name,” “if you abide in me,” and “ask . . . according to his will.” Prayer—and the accompanying requests—are to flow from hearts rightly related to the one who is worthy of our surrender to Him.

Still, that doesn’t change the question. Why am I surprised when God does what He said He would do?

Gracious Gifts

During this season of transition, I’ve been recalling how God revealed Himself in ways I could not have imagined. He orchestrated circumstances far beyond my ability to accomplish, even if I had tried. For example, when I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, my local doctor referred me to a surgeon in Miami, a city more than 100 miles away. No way did I intend to travel that far. I fought the suggestion in favor of a local surgeon. But my specialist was adamant. So I went . . . and quickly discovered my surgeon happened to be the Medical Director of that medical center. What a gift!

That was just the beginning of a series of events that floored me. The surgeon referred me to an endocrinologist who just happened to have come from a well-known cancer center in Texas. Another gift! Not only did the Lord address my desires, He also provided items I hadn’t even thought to request.

As my recent “quiet time” appointment with God overflowed with expressions of gratitude, feelings of unworthiness also engulfed me. I didn’t earn or deserve what I had received, and I knew it.

The Lightbulb Moment

That’s when the mega-watt lightbulb flipped on.

I was surprised at God’s mercifully hand on me because I knew I did not deserve His lavish love and gracious generosity. The definition of grace is that we don’t deserve what we receive.

As Christians, many of us are familiar with the apostle Paul’s description of salvation in Ephesians 2:8-9. He wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” We are dependent on God for our salvation.

But some forget that grace does not end at the moment of salvation. Grace saves us and grace sustains us through life’s hills and valleys.

Neither is deserved, yet both are offered in abundance. And I hope I never take either one for granted.

I finally got it. How about you?

*Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV Bible.