I recently experienced a lovely grace note, a little everyday touch of grace that keeps us aware of our Creator’s interaction in our lives.
I have two bum knees and am in the queue for bilateral knee replacements. But I can’t stop functioning just because something hurts, right? So, as I was thanking Papa God for His mercies (new every morning!) before attending to some business at the downtown Tampa courthouse, I heard His still small voice speak to my heart, “You won’t have to worry about your knees today.”
What? I stopped short. “Did you really say that, Lord?” I hadn’t even been thinking about my knees.
Then I drove to the courthouse, parked two blocks away in a parking garage and began the quarter-mile trek to my destination. About halfway there, I noticed I was moving along at a pretty fast clip (I’m usually outrun by a slug). And my knees didn’t hurt. At all. I wasn’t tottering side to side in the orangutan gait I’ve defaulted to in recent years. It had been so long since I walked normally, it felt weird. But absolutely wonderful.
My day included four flights of stairs (up, then down), 2-plus miles of walking and nearly an hour of standing (waiting). All with no knee discomfort. Unbelievable! When I returned home, the blessing continued. I walked my dog an extra block and danced with my mop after dinner. My knees remained gloriously pain-free all the way to bed.
Were my knees healed? No. It was a one-day blessing. But that’s okay. I’m enormously grateful for my day off the pain treadmill, and I praise Papa God for his surprise mercies when they come.
Why would the Almighty do such a thing? I have no idea. I don’t pretend to understand it, or feel worthy of it, but I’m overflowing with gratitude for all of Papa God’s grace notes.
The way I see it is, life is besotted with pain and hardship. That’s just a fact of living in a fallen world. But it’s also bejeweled with Papa God’s sparkling blessings, if we look for them. And then give Him all the glory.
“For all of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace,” (John 1:16 NASB).
