The Fallen World
It’s easy to think when we become Christians, our problems will go away. Why wouldn’t they? We finally give our souls to God and accepted His forgiveness. God is all-powerful and all-good. Therefore, when we come to Him, it makes sense that He will solve all our problems. However, if we spend any time growing in our faith, we quickly find out that doesn’t always happen–at least not in the way we expect.
Every person goes through difficulties and trials. This is directly due to the fact that we live in a fallen, imperfect world. There are negative forces at work in every society, culture, region, nation, and clique. Any time you have two people interacting, you have the presence of negative forces. The more people you get involved, the negative forces increase exponentially. (The good forces are also present). So what are these negative forces that grow in the increase of people? Each potentially negative situation can have any number of direct contributors. However, if you pull the threats long enough, you’ll find there are generally three origins. 1. The Devil and his minions. 2. The ways of the world. 3. Human nature. The combination of these three are the root cause of many negative forces working against us. In any given situation either one or any combination thereof works against us.
When we come into the family of God, we come into a new life born from eternity. That doesn’t mean we automatically understand everything that’s going on in the world. It also doesn’t mean God will cut us a check for x amount of dollars to bail us out of our entire situation. That’s now how the economy of heaven works. As Christians, we will still face difficult situations upto and including physical death. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble, but take hope for I have overcome the world.”
There are times we see God move in powerfully miraculous ways in both ours and other people’s lives. There are other times we experience the frustration of trudging through parts of life with toil, like wading through quicksand. Job losses, death of loved ones, evil done to us when we were weak and vulnerable are all painful and devastating experiences. In this world we have trouble indeed. But we are to take heart because Jesus has overcome the world. We may not see a miraculous turning of events with disaster or tragedy hits our lives. What we will see (if we turn our eyes and minds towards God), is tokens of grace that help us through an impossible situation. 1 John tell us we have and “advocate with the Father.” Jesus is interceding for us in the midst of trial. We have trials on earth. Having an advocate doesn’t mean we don’t go through the trial, it means we have aid, help, a voice of reason and compassion present in the process. So in our lives, when things are getting bad, God provides us with tokens of grace. Below I will list a few biblical examples as well as personal examples of God’s tokens of grace.
Tokens of Grace in the Bible
Grace 1
In the beginning of Genesis, we have the account of the Fall. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. As the story goes, God showed up to talk with Adam, who had hidden himself because he was ashamed of his nakedness. As the exchange went on, Adam and eve made coverings from some of the leaves to hide themselves (a very temporary measure. How long can leaf clothing last once it dries out or gets snagged on something?).
Due to their disobedience, God casts them out of the garden and barred their access to the Tree of Life, lest they live forever in their rebellious state. Yet in the expulsion, God did not leave them on their own. He provided them a token of grace–more permanent and enduring clothing made of leather from animals He killed to cover them up. As Adam and Eve had to find their way in a world devoid of the luxuries of the garden, God provided them with a core essential, a token of grace.
Grace 2
A second token of grace we see in scripture deals with Noah and the flood. Because of the wickedness of the world, God was poised to destroy the world, sparing only Noah and his family. After the flood, at the cusp of a new start, God makes a covenant with Noah, mankind, and all of the earth. He will never again destroy the earth by water. Yes, it will continue to rain. Yes floods will happen from time to time, causing much destruction. However, there will never be a worldwide flood that will destroy all the world again.
God puts an everlasting token of grace into the very fabric of nature by casting the rainbow. Now, everytime it rains (water being the instrument of the first destruction), it is a reminder to God, man, and all life on earth that God will not destroy the world by water.
Grace 3
The third biblical token of grace deals with the prophet Elijah. Forced into hiding because of Jezebel, the pagan wife of Israel’s wicked king, he flees to the wilderness. On his own, feeling the pressures of being hunted down and without provision or support, Elijah feels the futility of his plight. Yet in this, God provides Elijah a token of grace, a reminder that He has not forgotten His prophet, nor forsaken him. It is in this desolate place that Elijah is fed daily by crows who would bring food for him to eat. Elijah was in an uncomfortable environment, yet was given the staples needed for his survival.
Tokens of Grace in My Own Life
Now I’d like to give some examples of God’s tokens of grace in my own life. As a Christian, I’ve experienced difficulty and setbacks, as we all have. Just because I’m a pastor doesn’t mean I’ve overcome all obstacles. Just like all other Christians, I am right in the thick of living life in this world, and things happen. The followings are a testament to God’s goodness even today, in our lives, here and now.
Grace 1
When I had just gotten engaged, I was struggling with a rash on my arm. I didn’t have health insurance, so I couldn’t afford to go to the doctor. I tried treating it at home with everything from Lamasil to vinegar. Each day it got bigger and bigger. Eventually, I learned about the county health dept., which exists for people who can’t afford doctors. I made an appointment and went. The rash eventually took over my arm, my chest, and most of my stomach. It was massive. I had to wear long-sleeve shirts to cover it up. I spent money on large wrap bandages. It was taking over my body and showing no signs of slowing.
While I was fighting this infection, I believe God gave me an immense token of grace. The rash was full-blown in May and June, the months rounding into summer. As the weather should have been turning hotter, I feared the rash would get worse cause I had to wear long sleeves. Additionally, the heat would cause me to sweat under the bandages and clothing, threatening to spread the rash even more. The token of grace was cool weather in the thick of treating my rash. It stayed a comfortable temperature. It was an amazing grace from God that I am thankful for to this day. I had a bad rash to fight. It could’ve been much worse in hot weather.
Grace 2
A second token of grace I experienced is during the first year of marriage, my wife and I were trying to figure out how we could afford housing. Fortunately, a family friend had some rental property and agreed to rent our house to us at a very reasonable price. This put us in a position to adequately establish our first year of marriage with some financial breathing room. This token of grace helped alleviate some of the building financial stress that we were facing. Today, we are ever thankful for the Lord’s token of grace in terms of housing.
Grace 3
The third and final token of grace is also financially related. My wife and I both have masters degrees and the student loans to boot. We were able to put our loans on deferment for the first year of our marriage, allowing us to establish a financial base. However, with our deferment period coming to a close, we were getting stressed about how we’d be able to pay for it. I was looking into getting a third job. She was looking into getting a second job. We needed to find a way to pay our debts.
As we were looking for work, we found things that could work out for us. All the while, we were crying out to the Lord for provision, open doors, and a way to pay our bills. It was in the midst of this that we stumbled across a think known as income driven student loan repayment. We didn’t know it existed. It was already in existence. The Lord’s token of grace was bringing it to our attention through a casual conversation.
In both the second and third tokens of grace, we experienced something profound. God isn’t limited by how he gives us tokens of grace. There are times when his provision may be unconventional. Conventionally speaking, we were expecting a way to generate more income to pay our rising costs. What the Lord did was find a way to reduce our monthly costs.
Tokens of grace are always there. We may not experience immediate relief, get the dream job right out of school, or start rolling in money as a result of becoming a Christian. We will experience God’s goodness and faithfulness in ways that count. We can’t afford to discount the little things. I could have easily been thankless about my rash, saying God didn’t miraculously heal me. But I would have been blind to see that He didn’t have to stay off the hot weather while I figured out how to deal with the rash–He had other provisions for that too, by the way.
When you feel pressed by your circumstances. When if feels like negative forces are attacking you. Take authority over possible demonic influences. Then remember, the Lord has ways to give you tokens of grace in your trials-we just have to seek Him, have a thankful heart, and look for them, however small they are.