The late 19th and early 20th century
pastor, Alexander Maclaren, once advised: “Seek to cultivate a buoyant, joyous sense of
the crowded kindnesses of God in your daily life” (cited in Randy Alcorn, Eternal Perspectives [Spring, 2015]).
This is wise counsel. After all, the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 2:4, “God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance,” and then
in Ephesians 2:7 he taught that one of God’s purposes in saving us is this: “so
that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus.” In other words, both in this present age and
in the ages to come (without end) God is committed to displaying acts of
kindness to his sons and daughters.
It is easy to think this is not the case.
We focus upon the trials and suffering, the pain we experience, and it is easy
to conclude that everything “stinks”! But even in these hard things God has
promised to orchestrate them together along with other acts of providence he
brings to us, coupled with what he teaches us in his Word and also with the
ongoing work of his Spirit in us to bring about the good of conforming us to
the image of his Son (Romans 8:28-29). So, we can even rejoice in trials since
we know they are producing endurance and strength in us, as well as hope (Rom.
5:1-5; James 1:2-3). God is so committed to showing us the immeasurable riches
of his grace in kindness that he even turns the hardships into kindnesses.
But, more than this, there are so many acts
of kindness he brings to us that we often take for granted: A kind word of a
friend, the presence of a friend, the food we have to eat, our health, a
breath-taking sunset, a smile-causing rainbow, a timely rain, the family of God
who rallies around us when we are paralyzed by loss, time spent with a child or
a grandchild, the Bible and its words of life, the gift of prayer, assurance of
God’s love, fellowships with Christ, joy in the Holy Spirit, continual increase
in God’s grace, and God’s preservation of us so that we can persevere in the
faith.
This is merely scratching the surface, but
hopefully it is enough to get us thinking and looking for not just a few, but
for “the crowded kindnesses of God” we experience daily!
