Paying for His Mistakes

“For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Matthew 6:14, NASB.

When you live, work, and witness across cultures, it is sometimes easy to become short on grace with both your colleagues and with the people you live among. Realizing this, during my quiet time I asked God to teach me more about His grace. His answer to my prayer was surprising.

In the Third World nation where we live, mopeds and other varieties of motorcycles outnumber cars about ten to one. The rule of thumb - drive slowly and look carefully before making any turns. Invariably a motorcycle will attempt to zoom around you before you make the turn. This rule is also important because the drivers are often not entirely sober.

My husband, Tom*, was making a late night run to the airport; it was about 10 p.m. As he was slowing down to make a turn a motorcyclist ran into the back of the van. The young man was drunk and tired. He had fallen asleep on the handle bars of his bike. He had head injuries from the accident and had to be taken to the medical clinic for treatment. This is the second time this year that a drunken cyclist has hit our van!

Fortunately his injuries were not serious enough for him to require hospitalization. However, since we are the “rich” foreigners, we had to pay for his treatment. Tom and I don’t mind this, but the doctor inflated the costs because he saw us as an opportunity to make a quick buck. We do enough work with volunteer medical teams to know what treatment should cost in this country. The doctor was obviously taking advantage of us.

When Tom told me what had happened, it made me so angry. “It wasn’t our fault,” I ranted. “It just doesn’t make sense that we have to pay for his mistakes.” As soon as those words left my mouth my conscience was cut to the quick. I realized that God had answered my prayer. He had given me a glimpse into the cost of His grace. It wasn’t Jesus’ fault that mankind sinned, and He certainly paid dearly for the mistakes of others. Isn’t it painfully wonderful when God uses difficult circumstances to chip away at our flesh and make us more like Him!

*Names changed for security reasons.

Pray that:

My lesson on grace will not be lost but will make me more like Jesus in my ministry.

God will physically heal the motorcyclist, and that he will be open to the spiritual healing that will give him eternal hope.

The Holy Spirit will convict the doctor about sin and righteousness so that he may experience the grace of God before it’s too late.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.