Three Examples of God’s Grace (Part 3 of 3)

“I’m sorry, but your triple screen blood test indicates a possibility your baby has Downs Syndrome. We can conduct an amniocentesis to see what’s going on.”

I slumped into the chair at my doctor’s office, concerned as he delivered this news about our second child, but instantly I knew my decision. I was aware of the risks of an additional procedure. “No, we don’t want the amniocentesis. If our baby has Down’s, we will love him and deal with the consequences of that disease.”

At the time, I wondered if God was testing me.

Years earlier, as a single young woman, I made a different, regrettable decision. A fatherless girl without guidance, I thought a young man would fill the void in my heart, so I gave away my love too freely. My actions resulted in a pregnancy.

I didn’t know what to do.

I was scared and felt alone.

I didn’t want to marry the young man, and still had a career ahead of me. There was no one in my sphere of influence who directed me away from abortion, so I terminated the pregnancy. Back then, all I thought about was myself, but later, as a more mature Christian adult, I understood the gravity of my decision. It was wrong. I took a life. I also realized only the love of God could fill that gaping hole in my heart, left by the death of my earthly father.

Author Randy Alcorn says, “There are two victims in an abortion-one dead, one damaged.

I’ve asked God for forgiveness a thousand times, but truthfully, it only takes one time when we are sincere. Psalm 103:10-11 says, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him.” Ephesians 2:4-5 puts an exclamation point on God’s grace, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.”

I just watched the 25 year-old Albert Brooks movie, Defending Your Life. While not biblical it spurs reflection. Brooks was killed in a car accident, and ended up in “Judgment City” where he was on trial for his life. Did his good outweigh his bad? If not, he would be recycled and sent back to Earth to try it again.

If I could redo anything in my life, it would be the decisions I made in dating relationships. I did not save myself for my spouse, but because of my sinful behavior, I understand God’s grace. I am a card carrying member of the Grace Club and there is not a day I’m not grateful. I know I don’t deserve my ticket to Heaven. I have it only because of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for me. As the Casting Crowns song Calvary so eloquently says, “God’s pardon was multiplied to me – at Calvary.”

He forgives us for our past iniquities, and he even gives us a healthy child, when we don’t deserve it. Our son, Bret, was born with no evidence of Down’s Syndrome and I knew it was only because of God’s grace.

Are you still beating yourself up over a past sin? Maybe you had an abortion and the guilt plagues you. Today, lay it at the foot of the cross. Ask God to forgive you and don’t let the enemy of your soul steal your joy.

God’s grace is waiting.