Old and slow-moving, nevertheless, Grace faithfully carried her blind rider on the snow-covered, lonely and seemingly endless journey. There was no real visibility, due to the heavy clouds that hid the moon and stars. But even if the moon had been as bright as the sun during that long night, the old man with his sightless eyes still would not have seen a thing. If left up to him, He could easily have wandered around endlessly, trying to find the right path to his log cabin.
Yet Grace instinctively knew. She had a horse’s unerring sense of direction, and she knew which path would take her rider home.
Grace evaded a lot of dead ends that lead nowhere that night. And that horse also sidestepped dangerous holes in the ground that could have easily caused the old man riding on her back to plunge to the ground. Hazardous ledges and crevices were all cautiously avoided, which undoubtedly made for a much longer and arduous journey, but also saved her rider from possible harm or death.
Finally, the scent of the burning logs in the fire place of his old cabin scented the frozen air as horse and rider drew closer to the old homestead. Grace ambled slowly up to the ancient barn, then stopped and nickered softly. The old man slowly raised his heavy head, and breathed a deep sigh of relief as he sensed that only steps away, his beloved daughter waited patiently just inside the door of his old house. In just a few more minutes, love, warmth, security and safety would wrap their arms around his shaking old body. Barely able to move, he stiffly leaned forward over the frost-covered mane of Grace and gratefully patted her neck, murmuring his thanks and undying love for his faithful old horse.
Reminds me of another faithful bearer of an equally blind and helpless rider. Only this faithful companion thru a long, dark and cold journey is not a horse named Grace. It is Grace.
And that blind and helpless rider is every man, woman and child who has ever lived on this danger- ridden and evil-minded earth. Because when it comes to finally entering our Home in heaven, without the help of Grace, it is impossible. The grace of our God is the only way we are able to eventually enter those gates. There are way too many pitfalls, dangerously wrong paths and pure evil stalking us through our dark nights for us to ever find our road home … without Grace.
Always there for us. Always knowing the right road that we need to take. Always guiding us toward it. Faithful, perfect-sighted, older than time itself … Grace.
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