MERCY & GRACE
As some of you know, I am working on my Doctor of Ministry
in Pastoral Counseling at Liberty University. I will also be teaching
Systematic Theology this summer with Servants University. Well, sometimes as
students, we can be a little hard on our teachers when they do not return our
assignments back to us in what we feel is a timely manner. This was my secret
complaint with my professor in my class that I just completed. Nevertheless,
there was a lesson for me to learn.
The class that I had been taking was one of the most
challenging for me since my time at Liberty…along with Greek and Hebrew – to
say the least. Anyway, I was doing all of my class work, but I was not getting
all A’s on my assignments as I am used to getting in many of my classes.
Therefore, I had just settled in my mind that I was only going to get a B+ or
may manage to pull off an A-. Well, my hopes of a B+ and definitely an A- came
crashing down due to my lack of paying attention on posting my last assignment.
We had an assignment that was due on Wednesday of the last
week of class, and I thought that I had posted it in its entirety.
Unfortunately, that had not happened. I only posted the Bibliography page but
failed to post the main assignment. In other words, it was as if I had posted
the answer “4” to the mathematical equation 2+2 but failed to put the
calculation itself as to why it would be 4…if that makes any sense. So, this is
what happened…
My professor gave me a 46/100 for just turning in the
Bibliography page. You can imagine my shock when I saw my grade posted. I immediately
went to view what I thought was my posted assignment and saw that I had only
turned in the Bibliography page. To be honest, he could have rightfully given
me a “0”. Well, I could only blame myself for what happened; therefore, I sent
the teacher an email after he posted a “what happened” comment on my assignment
and explained that he gave me credit for at least having the Bibliography. I
replied by thanking him for the points he did give me and apologized for my
negligence. This is where grace comes in addition to what he had already given.
Despite my semester being officially over for this class, my
professor told me that if I would immediately post the entire assignment that
he would regrade it. Well, I immediately did what he told me to do and I am
happy to let you know that I received an A out of the class. This is how grace
and mercy work with the Lord.
My professor showed
mercy in not giving me the grade that I deserved, due to the late assignment,
but he gave me grace in allowing me to turn it in. The grace came in him giving
me an A instead of my deserved B. God
operates in the same manner with His children. He does not always give us the
punishment we deserve but gives us grace by blessing us with what we do not
deserve. What an awesome God we serve.
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