Paid In Full

For followers of Christ there have often been questions about the subject of ‘grace,’ and how it has been extended to us, the ‘sinners saved by grace.’ Usually, we hear the definition of grace as being the ‘unmerited favor’ of God blessing His children. For me, ‘God’s grace’ has taken on new and evermore broad applications. Recently, I’ve been thinking about how ‘grace’ can appear in everyday life:

Dr. E. V. Hill was the pastor of a large church in Los Angeles, California. A dynamic speaker he was a frequent guest at conferences and special events all across the world. I saw him on television several times in the ‘70s and ‘80s and, to me, he had a special way with words. One time he was speaking at Jerry Falwell’s church and his remarks included this testimony about ‘grace’: In the mid-1970s Dr. Hill was invited to travel with Muhammed Ali to Africa for the Ali-Fraser boxing extravaganza. At that time Ali was an almost god-like figure around the world, especially in Africa. Even though Ali was a professed Muslim, Dr. Hill was a sort of spiritual advisor for the boxer but was as-yet not well known in Africa. At one of the many events surrounding the match, Ali was entering a large hall where he was going to be speaking about the match and taking promotional pictures. At the entry doors, security was checking everyone in the entourage following Ali and Dr. Hill was detained from entering. Ali had taken a few steps and when he looked back, he saw the problem, nodded to the guard, and said, “He’s with me.” Dr. Hill said from then on he was regarded with the utmost respect and deference by everyone. Then he said, “Grace is Jesus saying about His followers: they’re with Me.”  

Dr. Hill told about growing up in poverty in Texas, but he told his single mother he was going to be a preacher when he grew up. When he told her that, she said he would need to go to Bible college, and he said they had no money. But each time he would say that, her reply was always “God will provide.” After high school, the day finally came when she went with him to a Bible college to enroll saying to him “God will provide.” He said he filled out all the forms, picked up his list of books, and got in line to register. Every time he took a step forward as the line grew shorter, he got more nervous, and when he was finally second in line, he thought about turning and running. He kept thinking about his mother’s words “God will provide,” but he had no money at all to make even a partial payment. When he stepped up to the pay window wondering what he was going to say, a man he did not know, whom he had never met, grabbed his arm, forced some money into his hand, and told him he was paying his bill. It turned out to be the exact amount he would owe. He handed the money to the clerk who took his bill and firmly stamped it “Paid in Full.” He said, “Grace can be Jesus saying that bill is “Paid in Full.”  

About a week ago a lady who works for my cancer doctor called me to talk about the new drug the doctor has prescribed to replace the injections. She told me that the regular price for the drug was over $3,000 per month, over $100 per pill taken daily. She had called the insurance company for me to check on the coverage and it is in the formulary, but my copay would be over $600 per month. Yesterday she called me to say that she had received a grant for me to cover the cost of the copay, and she was notifying the pharmacy. Today I received a call from the pharmacy advising me that they were sending me the drug and that there would be no charge. The clerk at the pharmacy said these words to me: “The copay is marked “Paid in Full.” Grace can be Jesus saying that bill is “Paid in Full.”

Sometimes we may call it by a different name. But we all have stories about how ‘grace’ has appeared in our lives.

_______EEA