Amazing Grace

My sister & I went to see the film "Amazing Grace" yesterday (check out her thoughts here); I was at once drawn in, lifted up, and deeply moved as I saw Wilberforce's life story unfold onscreen.

As viewers of a film, we have the privilege of knowing the outcome of Wilberforce's tireless efforts to end the slave trade before the film even starts. In the two beautiful hours that his life is summarized in film, we can see the hand of God moving and we can see his own community supporting, encouraging, and inspiring his efforts. Should I pursue politics, or a life devoted to God? Those who surround him say we are here to suggest that you can do both. I was struck by how uniquely God himself had equipped William Wilberforce to be the voice of the abolitionist movement and how instrumental community was to seeing that purpose carried out.

Year after year, Wilberforce brings his abolition bill forward, and year after year it is defeated in the parliament. His deep conviction is inspiring, and the faith that carried him forward in spite of years of political opposition and failing health is nothing short of miraculous. I could feel the Holy Spirit being stirred inside me as I thought of the pursuit of my own calling and the opposition I am only beginning to face. It is what anyone who is living out his or her calling can expect.

I am struck by the reality that Wilberforce was every bit as human as you or I. He probably did not expect anything so extraordinary as the abolition of the slave trade to be accomplished by his obedience and his efforts. He could not see his life in the context that we are able to see now. However, by God's grace & design, he found himself in a unique position to be the means by which the eyes of a nation were opened and a horrific, dehumanizing practice abolished.

On my own, I am not capable of anything extraordinary. I am every inch a human, I am flawed, and I have been guilty of believing that nothing much will happen because of me. But if I believe God's word, I have a unique deposit of grace that He has given me for the purpose of advancing His kingdom on earth (Eph 2:8-10). Perhaps He has uniquely positioned me also to be a blessing to others in ways I cannot now know. The ways in which God will use me may not be as public in those which He used Wilberforce, but the purpose He has for each one of us is His own purpose and is still significant, even when hidden from the eyes of the world.

If I had a God's-eye view of my own life, what would I see? I am certain that the view I have of my own life is too myopic; why couldn't God use me to do something extraordinary? In faith, in community, in obedience, in perseverance ... by the extraordinary, amazing, unfathomable, limitless grace of God, anything God purposes can be accomplished through one of His children. Imagine what can be happen when the community of faith is obedient! When I think on this, my mind reels; I am overwhelmed ... the possibilities are as vast as God Himself. God is great, indeed.

AMAZING GRACE!! Amazing doesn't even begin to cover it ...