Troubles come in herds, sometimes. I know you have sung it. But have you already come “through many dangers, toils, and snares”? I have. When John Newton wrote those words, he could have been writing for the Apostle Paul. Just on this one journey, the apostle his companions escaped one catastrophe after another. How did they do it? Grace.
The sun rose in its “old familiar way,” on the sojourners. Have you ever awakened in a place you did not recognize and wondered, “What do I do now?” The bad news was the place looked unfamiliar. Where were they? The good news was the beach looked sandy. Hoping they could run aground on sand, the sailors hoisted anchors, cut ropes, and set the sail. But their danger was unseen. A sandbar caught the stern of the ship and the pounding waves began to destroy the boat. Remember, though, that God had promised no one would be harmed.
So many of our dangers are invisible at first. They catch us off guard. Arteries clog, blood clots form, cancers begin to grow, all unknown to us. In our spiritual lives, the same principles prevail. We may be the last to know that we are angry or hurting. But we are bumped, and what spills out is not what we expected. When something bad happens, we often think, “I had no idea that was going to happen.” None of us escapes this world alive, unless Christ returns while we are still living. How will we ever make it to shore?
Again, we are indebted to Baptist preacher and songwriter John Newton, “’T is grace has brought me safe thus far.” We know for sure that God’s unfailing love and grace have brought us here. Newton was also correct when he asserted, “And grace will lead me home.”
