The Amazing Grace of the Have-nots

Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him. Isaiah 30:18 (NKJV)

Have you ever wanted something so badly you could taste it, yet never received it from the hand of God, even when the desire was to serve Him? At times, that can be what I have come to call the amazing grace of the have-nots. 

I began feeling a call to pastoral ministry in my early teens but as the old saying goes, “On the way to our dreams, life happens.” Things didn’t come together as I planned. I forgot how a person’s heart plans but God guides their steps (Proverbs 16:9).

I received my ordination in Pastoral Theology at age 33, with the intention of pioneering a Christian fellowship in my local community, yet God closed every door to pastoral ministry. When that didn’t come to fruition, I tried becoming a military chaplain. All those doors closed too. I prayed for God’s favor and grace to serve Him from my own drift. Instead of a church He gave me a weekly ministry on a devotional blog to what I can only term as My Faithful Fourteen. The Fourteen readers who faithfully return each week in my blog count.

Looking back on life since my teens, I have remained steadfast in my belief in God’s grace, but for reasons most do not consider. Grace is often touted in Christian circles as “Unmerited Favor.” We hear the word favor and we automatically think of benefits in the present without counting what the cost might be in the future.

God always answers; “Yes,” “No,” or “Wait.” Sometimes in His grace and mercy, He withholds things that could be destructive to ourselves and to others. I see now I had a lot of stones in my sack, harboring unconfessed angers, resentments, and even grudges, sins that could have played out in disastrous ways. I am dealing with these issues while marveling at God’s grace in protecting myself from my wants while being faithful to supply my needs.

While grace can mean favor that is not merited, it can also be a favor God gives us in withholding something because He loves us. Is God smarter than us? Yes, indeed. Sometimes I’m astounded at how smart He is. I look back and can now say, “Thank You, Lord, that in Your mercy You didn’t give me what I wanted.” It is have-not grace, yet grace for which I am truly thankful and remains amazing all the same.

Ken