Monday Meditation: Be Strong In God's Grace

 

 

 

"You therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."
(2 Timothy 2:1)

 

 

 

After 444 days in Iranian captivity, American State Department officer 
 Gary Lee returns home to Los Angeles, California in January, 1981
Image courtesy/Calisphere

 

After a long and terrifying captivity, Iranian hostage Gary Lee was home.
It was a Sunday morning in February, 1981 and I joined with others 
in his father's church to welcome him home. 

Celebration filled the air as joyful voices sang, "Amazing Grace".
From my seat I noticed the bearded young man smile and shake his head
as though in wonder at the miracle of his safe return.  Months earlier,
however, he had experienced another miracle. Shortly after his capture
 he was allowed to have a Bible and one day he read Isaiah 43:5:

 

"Do not be afraid for I am with you; I will bring your children 
from the east and gather you from the west."

 

"When I read those words," he told his father later, "I felt God was making
me a promise. Somehow I knew I would reach home safely. The whole
experience became a lot easier after that."

 

How much lighter trials become when we realize God's grace is twofold.  
It is not only the happy ending. It is also the peace we can feel during
a painful journey, when we trust in God-all the way.

 

 

 

 

"Be Strong In God's Grace"
A devotion by Doris Haase 
The Women's Devotional Bible
New International Version
With Daily Devotions From Godly Women
 Published by Zondervan
(1990)