Things Mama Taught Me: "If It Weren't for Grace . . . "

I remember my mother telling me with deep seriousness that without the intervening grace of God in our lives, any of us were capable of any sinful act, even the most awful crime. As a child, I wondered at that statement. I couldn't murder, could I, or commit a robbery or blaspheme God? Because I loved Jesus from a very early age, I just couldn't comprehend how darkened the human heart could become.

Many times, as an adult, I have taken comfort in the promise, "God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." A way out—that is just what I'm looking for, although I have learned that often the way out is through! However, as with many promises, there is something else to be considered. The preceding verses say, "These things happened to them [the Israelites wandering in the wilderness] as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience." (I Corinthians 10-13) Put in very simple terms, "If you think you are above certain base thoughts or wicked actions, think again. Your temptations are not made of different stuff than anyone else's; it's just that you have the grace of God to get you through it—if you'll avail yourself of it."

The first round of temptation for the Israelites was not all that remarkable. They were just barely out of Egypt; they hadn't even crossed the Red Sea yet. Pharaoh's army was pursuing them, and they became afraid—a pretty natural temptation, I think. But then, instead of asking God to help them through this terrifying situation, they began to blame Moses. "Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, 'Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!' " (Exodus 14:11, 12) Fear segued into anger and then bitterness. Look around you—or perhaps even within—and you will see how easily this happens. Bitterness turns into all kinds of terrible things, even atrocious crimes.

John Bradford, a sixteenth-century English reformer and martyr, witnessed a prisoner (prisoners, some accounts say) being led to execution and, realizing his own dependence on Divine mercy, said, "There, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford." His statement survives these hundreds of years later, quoted usually as "There . . . go I.") That's what my mother was telling me: Don't forget what you could have become—if it weren't for grace.

MaryMartha

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved

Info about Bradford: http://www.worldofquotes.com/author/John-Bradford/1/index.html