He was an ordinary guy, as ordinary as they come, but he had an extraordinary name. Joe was an instant standout when he wheeled into the cafeteria of the senior home where I volunteered because he was four decades younger than the average resident. While the government-run retirement facility doubled as a rehabilitation center, not many 30-year-olds called this place home — thankfully.
He had a ready-made smile when I introduced myself and asked his story, but his story stabbed my heart. Joe had been in a horrific car accident, the kind most people don’t survive, and he was shipped to this place after being released from the hospital. He was having to relearn all the basics — eating, washing, dressing, walking. Life had dealt this ordinary Joe a devastating blow.
I had just met the guy when he blurted out, “God is mad at me. He’s punishing me.” At this point, I didn’t even know his name. Before I embarked on what I hoped would be a fruitful conversation about the outrageous love and mercy of our heavenly Father, I needed that critical piece of information.
“What is your name, sir?” I asked.
“My name is Joe,” he replied. “Joe Grace”
At first, I couldn’t believe my ears.
“I’m sorry, did you say your name is Joe Grace?”
“Yes ma’am.”
Just to be sure, I continued, “Your last name is Grace?”
He nodded.
Talk about a hanging curve ball over the center of the plate. God had been prepping me for this pitch weeks in advance as I had recently finished reading Phillip Yancy’s What’s So Amazing About Grace?
What followed was one of those conversations you dream of having with someone, a conversation where the Holy Spirit gives you all the right words to say at exactly the right moment, a conversation where you get to be the catalyst that God uses to change the trajectory of someone’s life.
Like all of us, Joe had lived a life he wasn’t proud of, and like many of us, he was living under a mountain of lies. The enemy had his hooks in deep, but this guy was so ripe to hear about God’s love and forgiveness that I couldn’t get the words out fast enough. He soaked them up like a lost traveler who had found an oasis in the desert but was afraid it was all a mirage. Joe could scarcely dare to hope, much less believe, that God wasn’t angry with him, that the Almighty longed to lavish love and forgiveness over his dry and weary soul.
“Joe, don’t you see? God is so intent on getting this message of His grace through to you that He put it in your name! For heaven’s sake, your name is Grace!” I exclaimed.
That was the moment when God’s pitch connected with my bat and the ball sailed out of the park. I couldn’t write a better story. Tears were streaming down both of our faces. I prayed with Joe and promised to be back with a gift on my next visit. I brought him a copy of Yancy’s modern classic on grace the very next week.
When I handed him the book, he cried, “I feel like I’ve won the lottery!”
Haven’t we all? We are all an ordinary Joe in this life touched by the grace of an extraordinary God. And God wants to write the word grace over every nasty name the enemy whispers into our souls.
Unforgivable. Unlovable. Unworthy. Unattractive. Ordinary.
That last one gets to me. I was at a women’s conference where women decades younger than me were doing things a thousand times more important. Or so the enemy would have me believe. God has whispered some crazy dreams into my soul, and that scheming serpent loves to hiss a bunch of labels my direction to quell the vision.
Old. Anonymous. Unqualified. Insignificant. Ordinary. Those are the hooks he hurls at me. And he’s right. I am all of those things. But my God isn’t.
Grace is God’s forgiveness extended to us as a gift we don’t deserve, but grace is also His unmerited favor. God graces us with His favor which accredits us for every good work that He whispers into our dreams. We don’t need the right resume; we need the right name — His name. Jesus’ name covers every disqualification we have.
Why do I keep forgetting that? Why do I keep listening to that sly serpent’s song? Why do I keep asking, “Did God really say . . . . How can that be? I am so ordinary.”
It’s true. I am as ordinary as they come. My name carries no clout to accomplish these crazy dreams. But it is irrelevant that it needs to, not when God writes His Name beside mine. It is the perfect marriage of a provincial to a royal, a pauper to a prince. This ordinary girl met the great God of grace, and He has given me a new name. He writes grace over every slur that the enemy slaps across my face.
I am who He says that I am.
So while I am a commoner, I’ve got a crown because I’m a daughter of a king. I may be an ordinary Joe, but I have an extraordinary God. And that means I am no ordinary Joe, just like Joe Grace.
God wants to write the word 'grace' over every nasty name the enemy whispers into our souls. Click To Tweet Leave a Comment
God’s timing is amazing! Bringing Philip Yancy’s words and Joe’s life across your path at the same time is further evidence that there’s something pretty amazing about God and His grace.
He is amazing! I couldn’t believe it when Joe told me his last name. And then God reminded me of Joe just when I needed His grace written over the lies of the enemy in my life. Thanks for reading and responding. God bless!
This doesn’t surprise me in the least…to see God at work in your story as I have witnessed Gods grace and unbelievable provision in my own life this past two years in particular. The simple fact and truth is Our God is amazing and He orchestrated you to meet Joe, prepping you with reading the book before you met Joe amongst other things- Gods power and wisdom is nothing short of magnificent! We honestly are so so so lucky!!!!
His timing is perfect! This encounter blessed me as much as it did Joe. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Blessings!
This story spoke to me on a thousand levels. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you so much, Renae. I’m glad it blessed you. This story keeps blessing me, too.
I’m so glad it spoke to you, Renae. This beautiful story keeps speaking to me, too. It blessed me as much as it did Joe.
Blessings!
Catherine,
God planned that meeting years in advance. It was no surprise to Him. He wanted you to tell Joe that he is loved by a God who will rejoice over him with singing. Nothing is to hard for our Great & mighty God. I’ve been fortunate to witness two miracles in two years. My aging dad’s severe dementia was healed for a time & he was able to enjoy life. My 90 yr old FIL survived stage III bladder cancer & is doing well for now. Out mowing his yard. God is always up to something good. He wants us to trust Him & share our beliefs with others. I do that by acts of kindness to others. The more I do the more I see a sparkle in their eyes. Perhaps one day I will hear of people who got saved due to my seed sowing just like you did.
Blessings 🙂
What incredible miracles, Beth! Thank you for sharing. I’m working on another piece right now where I wonder the same exact thing about how amazed I will be in heaven at the impact of these simple acts of seed sowing. Will be posting that soon on my website. It is encouraging to think of how God sews all of our seeds together and grows such a beautiful garden, doesn’t He?
May God bless your seed sewing!
I love it!
“And he’s right. I am all of those things. But my God isn’t.”
We don’t have to be great, our God IS! He is I AM! And we can be whatever he wishes us to be.
Absolutely! He is everything that I’m not, but He is everything I can be in Christ. We can be whatever He wishes us to be!
Thanks for the encouragement, Kristen.
Thank you for these words… oh, so fitly spoken! This thirsty soul was refreshed and encouraged!!
Thank you for encouraging me, Deb! So glad that you are encouraged.
God bless you!
Oh my! I never tire of hearing these amazing stories. God meets us right where we are with a NOW word that changes everything! Thanks for the ‘in’couragement!
Yes He does reach us with a NOW word, doesn’t He? Right when we need it. Thank you for the (in)couragement! God bless you!
Love this so much Catherine!! God’s amazing, undeniable gracious love and forgiveness. “…. extended to us as a gift we don’t deserve, but grace is also His unmerited favor. God graces us with His favor which accredits us for every good work that He whispers into our dreams.” just wow
Thank you, Renee. It is so kind of you to encourage me! I’m just starting out in this journey, launching a website and a blogcast this week, and you’ve been doing this for a while. It means a lot that you would take the time to lift up a sister who is just passing the starting gate. That says a lot about you. Your piece was such a blessing to me as well!
Thank you for this word from God today. Just this afternoon, I wrote a letter to God confessing my sins, fears, losses, and even wrote these exact words describing myself – Unforgivable. Unlovable. Unworthy. Unattractive. – and then I read this devotional.
Thank you for the reminder of grace, the unmerited favor and blessings in my life even if my circumstances don’t change, I am a daughter of the MIGHTY KING!
WOW! Just wow. I’m blown away by this. That sly serpent isn’t very original, is he? He’s saying the same exact thing to you, me, and every other woman on the face of the planet.
Here’s what is even more amazing. I wrote and submitted this piece months ago. They could have picked any day to publish it but they picked the day you wrote those words in your journal. That is incredible! The enemy isn’t very original but God sure is. I just have to laugh at how perfectly God exposed that nasty devil. Verbatim! That seriously makes me laugh. I’m going to screen shot your comment and keep it for when that sly serpent comes calling again.
I pray for the grace to endure whatever you are going through, Rebecca. And I pray for God’s blessings to abound in your life!
If I had a dime for every low, destructive, demeaning thing I have heard the enemy whisper about my name….I would be rich. Since being forced out of work because of a body one Doctor measured roughly 30 years older than I am making my skeletal structure 78 . I have made progress but not enough for anyone to risk their license marking me,”Fit for work.”Now the reason I love to hear about “Joes” is because during my time “not fit for gainful employment”. Please I mean no disrespect but a man takes half of his worldly identity from his job. The other half from his wife. So even with that blow, I found the place that God wanted me I volunteered at a crisis pregnancy center for three yaers only ten to twelve hours a week. God used me to repair and organize the dvd players transfer vhs to dvd format and rebuild the men’s program. That way men that came with women to the center were encouraged to step up and be fathers. I was also the only certified male crisis pregnancy counselor. God was not surprised when spurs started forming on my spine blocking nerves, He was not overwhelmed when Crohns disease and Barretts esophagus teamed up and robbed my body of necessary nutrients causing my teeth and hair to come out so quickly. He added to my level of compassion to those in situations beyond control. I met my share of people that had been lied to all thier lives. God has given me a point of common ground to accompany a passion to heal the broken hearted. I have known you for years and have seen people make the mistake of not getting to know your heart for people,I am glad you are sharing.Don’t stop.
Thank you for the encouragement, George! I am so glad to know that God never marks anyone “unfit for work.” Congratulations on being the “only certified male crisis pregnancy counselor.” That is awesome. Both my mother and father worked for that ministry for years. Your heart and mind are of great use to the Lord even if your body has its challenges. I pray for tremendous fruit in your life!
Thank you! An inspired piece to start my day with Grace. Always Grace.
You are welcome. May God’s grace abound to you every day!