Thirty Shades of Grace

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
—1 Corinthians 13:1–13
On Sunday August 4, 1996, my wife and I experienced what every parent dreads—the news that our son had been viciously stabbed and was undergoing surgery at the hospital.
During the next two days, our daughter stayed at his side night and day refusing to leave him in the hands of strangers. Having no training as a nurse, she nonetheless cleared his throat when he was gagging. She made sure he was able to urinate. She watched his every move night and day, and daily, he improved.
Two days later, August 6, 1996, his twenty-fourth birthday, my wife told me, “I was listening to the radio, and the disc jockey said, ‘God never fails,’ and I heard it like never before. Regardless of what we think about a situation, God is working things out toward good.”
I thought, I’ve known that for a long time. God never fails any individual. The infallible nature of God is my theological foundation. God never fails. But then I asked myself, I know that, but is that a saying that sounds biblical but has no biblical basis? I got my concordance and Bible, but I couldn’t find “God never fails.”
I then looked under “fail,” but I found no such statement. Somewhat desperate, I tried looking up “never.” Maybe I’ll find it there. I found, “He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved” and “I will never leave thee or forsake thee,” but no “God never fails.”
Feeling somewhat brokenhearted, I thought, It’s not there.
Yes it is, the Holy Spirit said.
Where? I asked.
The Comforter replied, Love never fails.
Oh!
Joy flooded my soul. I had found what I was looking for. I believed in the Word, and I had witnessed it at work in the life of my daughter—patient, kind, generous, humble, courteous, unselfish, good tempered, thinking no evil, and sincere.
I share this story because many of us have been looking for God in all the wrong places. Wherever we find people involved in the common charities of life, we find God. God is at work in the world. Allow others to find God in you. Be patient, kind, generous, humble, courteous, unselfish, and good-tempered; think no evil, and be sincere. It will work. That’s because love never fails.