Awakened to Grace

Chad Roberts: Friends, I am so excited to share with you that my brand new book, Blind Faith: Seeing God Through Darkness, is now released and it is available wherever you buy books in any format that you buy books. This book is published through our friends at LifeWay and B&H Publishing, and you can go right now to readblindfaith.com and get your very own copy and make sure you get one to share with a friend. So go to Amazon or readblindfaith.com today.

It is the sheer mercy of God that brings us into salvation and not ourselves. And how did God do it? Romans 2:4, his kindness led us into repentance. So many people think that it was their own choice. They think that it was their decision, it was their time. Some people have never come to the Lord because they don't think it's their time. Friends, none of that is true. The only thing that leads us to repentance is the very kindness of God, that and nothing else.

Some years ago, I worked with a family. A wife and some wonderful children had separated from the husband. The husband was by all accounts a good man, but he was not a godly man. He wasn't saved. He didn't know the Lord. He didn't have any desire for anything of God. And he lived quite a selfish life, and by the point that I got involved, the wife and children had already separated and moved out, and he was living on his own.

And I began praying with and counseling them and just trying to walk through life with them, but he had zero desire for God, none. And I remember one day, I remember she called me and she said, "Pastor Chad, my husband is extremely sick right now, and he has asked me to bring him medicine. What do you think I should do?"

She had called her therapist before calling me, and the therapist told her something, I don't remember what, but she basically said, "Let him suffer. You've made your bed, lie in it. Teach him a lesson." She said, "What do you think I should do?" I said, "Well, my opinion is, it's God's kindness that leads us to repentance. Perhaps it would be your kindness that led him to repentance. What if God used it to soften his heart? I just don't think you can ever go wrong treating others the way God has treated you. I said, if I were you, I would choose kindness."

It's exactly what she did. And within that year, her husband was right here in this church, born again, living for the glory of God. And God restored their home. I want to tell you what kindness is, biblical kindness, but first let me tell you what it is not. Kindness in our Western thinking, in our culture, our society, when I think of kindness, I think of simply politeness. If I'm kind to someone, I'm courteous, I'm nice, I'm polite.

It may be the server that brings my food, I'll be nice to that server. It may be the clerk checking out my things, or maybe I'm at the bank and it's a teller and I'm courteous and I'm nice and I'm polite. I may hold a door open for someone and that's being nice, but is that kind? Not biblically. The Bible word for kindness actually has a deep meaning to it. And you know how the Bible defines kindness? It blows my mind. Here is the word: useful. Useful. Kindness in a way that God can use you.

Well, how in the world does that happen? I've had a great struggle over these last few weeks because I have been threatened with a lawsuit. I feel like Donald Trump. But a group in Southern California has threatened to sue me because when I first went blind, I had some volunteers and interns that I would write an article or a devotion, and then they would take an image and match the image to the article on the website.

And unbeknownst to us and by accident back in 2022, we used a copyrighted image. And now these people are suing me for copyright infringement to the tune of $15,000. Biblical kindness does not mean that you're simply courteous. It doesn't mean that you're simply nice or that you're polite. It actually means that you're able to be good to people. It means that you're able to be kind to people who don't deserve it. You know how so many Christians are today if we're not careful?

One of my favorite Bible teachers, Warren Wiersbe, who's in heaven with the Lord now, he talked about Christians who think they're bearing fruit, but in reality, you know what it is? It's fake. It's plastic. It's wax fruit. There's nothing real there. There's nothing of substance there. Some of you think that you're good with God because you're a good person. That's fake. Some of you think that you're kind today because when you go to Hobby Lobby you're nice. That's fake.

Let me tell you how you know you're bearing the right fruit of kindness. It's when someone wrongs you. When someone does not deserve your kindness, that's when you find out whether you're fake or not. Thursday morning I was taking a shower and the Lord reminded me of something. In 2010, Sadie and I took a group to Tijuana, Mexico. Sadie was about seven months pregnant with Piper, and so she was already uncomfortable going on a trip pregnant.

But we went, and we took about 15 with us. We stopped at a little taco stand to eat dinner our first night there, just something quick, and we were all exhausted. We got there late. And our little 15-passenger van that belonged to the ministry was no more than 20 feet from us. I mean, I could see it. And we finished our meal and went back to the van and guess what? Thieves had popped the lock and for the first time in my life traveling, I had something stolen from me.

All the countries I've ever been to, I've never been robbed, I've never been mugged, nothing like that, never lost anything, never had anything taken. And now all of a sudden, my bag has been stolen. And what was in that bag was $3,500 worth of things. I had my laptop, I had my Bible, several books, I had $1,500 cash that was to buy beans and rice for a very poor community that we were going to minister in. But worst of all, it had Sadie's passport and she's seven months pregnant.

And I said, "Honey, if they do not let you across the border, our church will support you and the baby as full-time missionaries. We'll send money every month. I said, I'll even send you Marlboro cigarettes, stuff you can really sell for a big profit down here." She did not find me funny at all. I thought I was very whimsical, but she did not. So they said, "Well, in order to get across the border and do what you're going to need to do, you have to go to the police station."

By this point it's midnight. And I don't know if you have ever been to the Tijuana police station at midnight, but if you haven't, you should. It's an experience all of its own. And we go and we fill out a police report and I'm thinking to myself, all this stuff is gone. That $1,500 is gone. That laptop with so much work is gone. That favorite Bible I have is gone. Everything's gone. And we fill out the police report, we get back in the taxi and it's going to be a 45-minute ride back to the place we're staying.

I'm already tired, I'm already exhausted. It's probably 1 AM at this point. And the Lord speaks to me. And the Lord said, "I want you to forgive them." I can forgive them. The Lord said, "Now, I want you to bless them." What? The Lord said, "Give everything to them." Excuse me? It took me a good 20 minutes of arguing with the Lord. Give it to them. And you know what the Lord told me? Listen to this. The Lord said, "Somebody cannot steal what you're willing to give away. Bless them with it in Jesus' name."

I said, "You want me just to bless them and give it to them?" The Lord said, "Be generous." And you know what I did in that taxi? I said, "You know what, Lord, I don't own anything. Everything I have is yours. That's kingdom money, that's a kingdom laptop, that's kingdom stuff. Lord, I take it now and I give it to them. I release it to them and I bless them with it in the name of the Lord Jesus. And may you bless them, may you convict them, may you save them."

And I began praying for them that God would call them to preach. Thieves had stolen a pastor's Bible and who knows, maybe God did. But I tell you what happened. By the time I got back to where we were staying, all the weight, all the frustration had lifted off of me. And I slept better that night than I've ever slept. Why? Because I released it. I let it go. The next morning, Sadie's mom calls and she's telling her what happened.

And she said, "Let me talk to Chad." And I got on the phone and she said, "You need to turn that into your homeowner's insurance." I thought that was the silliest thing I've ever heard. I'm out of the country. She said, "No, you need to call them right now, call them." I called and did you know my homeowner's covered me up to 100 miles south of the border? Do you know they paid and reimbursed every penny that was stolen?

But see, that wasn't the victory. That wasn't where the battle was won. You know where the battle was won? Is that someone had wronged me and I didn't let it affect me. I gave them freely what Jesus has given me. So fast forward to Thursday. I'm sick, I don't feel well. I've got this stress of a $15,000 lawsuit. And the Friday before, we were in Terry Witt's discipleship class and one of our precious little Filipino saints, Michaela, she came up to me in that beautiful accent and she said, "Pastor Chad, we're going to take this before the courts of heaven and we're going to talk to the judge about this."

Oh, I needed that because you know how I know when I'm sideways with people? Is when I have imaginary conversations. And I had already had about five imaginary conversations in front of judges, pleading my case. My book agents are actual attorneys and I sent everything to them. It was a 21-page document. And they read it all and they texted me and they said, "Chad, did you use the image?" I said, "Yes, by accident."

They said, "How long did you use the image?" I said, "Since 2022 apparently, but by accident." They said, "So you're saying you did use it?" "Yes, by accident." And they said, "Well, unfortunately, it's not going to matter. You're going to have to pay." And they said, "You can take it to court, but what you're going to pay in attorney fees and court costs and all of that, you're going to have to pay whatever they tell you."

And listen, I don't have to tell you, you know how hard we work to raise money for Awakened to Grace. We work hard at it. That's kingdom money. That's not my money. That's kingdom money. And it just killed me the thought of giving it to a money grab. This thing was by accident. Well, Thursday, the Lord spoke to me. And the Lord said, "You remember those thieves in Tijuana?" Yeah. The Lord said, "You remember what you did?" Yeah. The Lord said, "You remember how it came back to you?" Yeah. The Lord said, "I want you to do the same thing this time."

The Lord said, "When that attorney writes back, no matter what they say, I want you to give it and I want you to give it generously and I want you to give it graciously because, Chad, it's not even yours to begin with. Bless them with it. I know they're trying to harm you, but bless them with it, whatever it is." So right there, I determined in my heart, right there, whatever it is, that's what we'll do.

I get to work and the day's going by, after lunch, Nicole says, "Chad, I have the greatest news in all the world." She said, "They dug into you, they found out you're blind, they knew that this was an accident. They said given the circumstances, our clients decided to drop the matter altogether." But again, that's not where the battle was won nor lost. The battle was won when I chose that whoever was trying to wrong me, I was going to give them the fruit of kindness.

I can be kind to somebody I don't know, but that's shallow. It's when someone wrongs you, that's when you find out are you fake or are you real? Ephesians chapter four, I'll finish here. Ephesians chapter four, verse number 32, is such wonderful verses. See, there are some of you and I know this in my heart that you want to forgive someone who's wronged you. You really do. You truly do. You don't know how, but you want to.

You don't know how to make it happen, but if you could, you would. And today you're saying, I feel lost because I don't know how to forgive. Well, what we don't understand is that there's a process to it, there are steps to it. And look what it says in verse 32. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. Do you see it doesn't say forgive someone then try to be kind, then try to be tender.

No, it's reverse order. It says be kind and then be tender and then forgiveness comes. Do you know where you gotta start, brothers and sisters? You gotta start with this fruit of kindness and only God can produce it in you. And when God begins to produce it, your life becomes useful and God can use that kindness to bring others into repentance. Some of you are trying to jump straight to forgiveness, but you're bypassing kindness. You're bypassing tenderheartedness. No, go back to the basics.

Some years ago when my daughter Emmy was in preschool, we had her at this Christian school and they were teaching her Bible verses and they would teach out of the King James. One day they taught her this: be ye kind to one another. Me and Sadie got into some argument, I don't remember, it was probably her fault, but I don't remember. And we're arguing or whatever. Boy, Emmy just gets right there and she goes, "Be ye kind to one another!"

It's the cutest thing ever. And whatever we were arguing about we just laughed, I mean, what can you do? Are you kind to others? Are you kind to the people who mistreat you? So right now I want you to bow your head and close your eyes and here's what I want you to do today. I want you to ask the Lord to show you someone. Bring someone to your mind, to your heart. And the question is not do they deserve your kindness, that's not the question because you didn't deserve God's kindness.

The question is can you give them kindness? It may be a relative today, it may be a friend that lied on you or in some way took advantage of you. It may be someone who conned you out of a lot of money and you've never forgiven them. And I'm not saying you open yourself back up to be hurt by them, that's not what I'm saying. But I'm saying you're missing out on a peace, you're missing out on a freedom, you're missing out on a victory that you could be walking in today that you're forfeiting right now.

It may be a coworker who mistreats you and tries to make you look bad. It may be a neighbor, I don't know. But ask the Lord who would he have you show kindness to? He may have you just send them a text or a greeting card, buy them a coffee, I don't know. Or it may just be in a different tone that you talk to them. But whatever it is, the Lord will show you. Just be obedient.

The battle will not be won and lost by how the outcome is. The battle will be won or lost in your heart and in your mind as you determine how you're going to treat those who mistreat you. Father, I thank you for your loving kindness. I thank you, God, for this precious fruit that is able to grow in each of our lives. And I thank you, God, that it's not shallow like courtesy. It's not just fake like niceness can be.

No, there's a depth to it. A depth that you want to use and transform. Let us be just like you, Jesus. Oh, how kind you are. Let us be just like you. In Jesus' name we pray. And everyone said, "Amen." Did you know that I'm a pastor, husband, and father of four who suddenly went blind in 2018? Today I teach people how life is not random, but it is actually orchestrated by God for a great purpose. Learn more about my story and Awakened to Grace at chadroberts.org.