Currently Unknown Recipients of Grace

Following Micah's death, we received a kind gift of a new cherry tree in honor of Micah. When we planted it in the backyard of our South Minneapolis home in the fall of 2009, we of course had no idea whether that little tree would live.  This past winter, we sold our home in South Minneapolis and moved to a new home in the western suburbs. This week, I was surpised to receive an email from the new homeowner with a picture of the cherry tree (which Heather and I liked to refer to as "Micah's Tree.")  This year's blossoms were better than in any previous year, and the new homeowner(s) will enjoy Micah's tree for years to come. While we wish we could have brought the tree with us to our new home, I was happy that the tree appears in good health. 

In the case of Micah's Tree, a previously-unplanned and unknown recipient now benefits from the gift originally intended for us.  As God works in our lives to change us and our loved ones to be more like Him, do we really have any idea who will benefit from this?  In many cases, we have a good handle on who the recipients of God's grace will be.  But I think I often limit the reach of God's power, as if God will only impact those individuals that I currently know or see in front of me.  God is not bound by any such artificial and human limitations.  God's power is, as Paul said in Romans, "beyond tracing out," and his power beyond anything we can even imagine.  Along with numerous other grieving parents, I look forward to the day of our Great Reunion, when we can begin to realize how God used our greatest sufferings to achieve his purposes, even in the midst of great grief.