One of the gifts of living in the fourth quarter of life is perspective. We look back through a different lens and begin to see Godโs grace in chapters where His presence was not clear to us at the time.
Childhood. Adolescence. Marriage and family. Midlife. The empty nest. Retirement looming. And the legacy I hope to leave.
Each of us walks that same path, through our own chapters, met with Godโs grace we often donโt recognize in the moment.
Sometimes grace looks like an opportunity, even in a job transition that didnโt end the way you had hoped.
Sometimes it looks like protection from the road not traveled or the decision not taken.
Sometimes itโs a person who arrives at just the right time โ for me, my wife, my colleague Darren Kimball, spiritual directors Fr. Hank Hilton and Monsignor Cullen, and my friend and neighbor Bob Tanzola.
And sometimes grace looks nothing like we expected โ for me, becoming an Executive and Career Coach 12 years ago and leading a Parish Bereavement Ministry.
Perhaps thatโs why we understand Godโs grace only in retrospect โ echoing Nelson Mandela: โwe only look back to see how far weโve come.โ
We see disappointment, but God may see a redirection in the making.
We see a mistake, but God may see the beginning of our transformation.
We fear a door closing, but God may see another path opening โ one that requires our trust in Him.
We may see someoneโs past, but God sees who they can still become, no matter who they are โ echoing Oscar Wilde: โevery saint has a past, every sinner has a future.โ
St. Paul understood this better than most โ he persecuted the Church, then grace met him on the road to Damascus and made him an apostle.
Years later, Paul could look back and say in his letter to the Corinthians:
โ๐ต๐ฆ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐ ๐ผ ๐๐ ๐คโ๐๐ก ๐ผ ๐๐.โ โ 1 Corinthians 15:10
I find those words comforting โ our lives arenโt defined only by success, but also by failure, regret, and missed opportunity.
Godโs grace reaches every chapter, even places we thought it never could โ one of the fourth quarterโs great gifts.
We can look back and recognize Godโs presence in ways we didnโt understand at the time:
- In the people He surrounded us with in all our setbacks and losses.
- In all those second and third chances He always gives us.
- In the moments we thought we walked alone, we can now see His footsteps in the sand, carrying us through.
Godโs grace was there โ not because we earned it, but because His grace is always a gift.
So How About You?
- Where can you now see God’s grace in a chapter of your life where you could not see it before?
And perhaps the even deeper question:
- How might God be asking you to become an instrument of that same grace for someone else?
So yes, we too can look back and say, like St. Paul, โ๐ต๐ฆ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐ ๐ผ ๐๐ ๐คโ๐๐ก ๐ผ ๐๐โ โ and by that same grace, our journey continues until He calls us home.
Wishing you Godโs grace in every chapter of life, Dr. K
#executivecoaching #careercoaching #spiritualcoaching #griefsupport
