By: Alexandria Grace

Amazing grace 

How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost 

But now I'm found

Was blind, but now I see

~ Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace is unanimously one of the most beautiful hymns on earth. 

I’ve heard to so many renditions of the famous tune that I’ve lost track as to which is my favorite. Amazing Grace is classic, it’s simple, and it’s a honest depiction of the love of Christ. It’s a song that evokes a tranquil atmosphere to anyone who listens, one of light and warmth. I find it fascinating, that it’s beloved by believers just as much as by a world of people too blind to see and too deaf to hear. 

This song of a grace so amazing, makes me wonder why, upon seeing and hearing the Truth, people are still blind and deaf. Their eyes and ears are open wide, but their hearts are closed tight like a bolted chest. They view shadows and silhouettes, never brightness; they pick up on lyrics, but not the layers of libretto. If eyes are to be the windows of the soul, they choose to cover them up with curtains. If ears are doors to the mind, they keep them locked, with the key hidden away. 

My guess is, they do this because their eyes are sensitive to the sharpness of the sun; their ears easily burnt by its tongues of fire. Their vision can’t handle being hurt, so they veil it. They don’t want to perceive much, beyond what they can fathom, so they plug their ears. I know I was once this way. Perhaps you’ve been or are now are, too. 

Humming this hymn and pondering the sorrowful state of so many people, reminds me of when I had to get glasses for the first time. I was 13, possibly 14. I knew my eyes weren’t as strong as they used to be. I couldn’t see the board in science class from my third-row seat. I had to squint for words in English to straighten-out. Everything was soft, and fuzzy; nothing solid in shape. I don’t know why I played hide and seek with my sight for so long. I wasn’t getting it back unless I went to a doctor: I knew that full-well.

My father caught me red-handed one day at the store, asking me to read a sign above me-its prices and lettering-to which I wasn’t able. Less than a month after-the-fact, I showed up at school and surprised my friends with a pair of navy blue glasses. I could finally see, and study the way I used to, but the metal around my face wasn’t forgotten as bluntly as I hoped. 

To this day, I still fight myself to place them on my face. There are mornings I don’t want to see clearly or with clarity. Why? Razor-cut edges sting. The light can slice my sensitive eyes at times, the shine can illuminate objects and facts I don’t like to view. Like flaws. Like failings. 

When you’re so accustomed to spiritual blindness, and even deafness, seeing and hearing without shrouds or muffles is difficult to adjust to. Believe me, I know. Coming out of the black, and journeying into the gold, isn’t easy in the least. It’s why so many backpedal, turning around on their wheels and heels once they’ve seen and heard a bit of the Truth. It’s why millions of people can listen and gaze upon a song like Amazing Grace, and be temporarily changed, but not eternally so. To have anything and everything magnified in honestly and brilliance…it’s a truly piercing thing. It’s why the The Word is considered and called the “Sword of The Spirit” in Ephesians. Hebrews says it’s “sharper than any double-edged sword.” 

In Psalms 146:8, God is described as being He who “opens the eyes of the blind.” It continues with “The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.” This Psalm has me recall the story of the blind men in the Gospels, who followed Jesus around, begging for mercy to be bestowed upon them. Jesus simply asked them if they believed He could do it; if He could heal their sight. They had such faith, and so their vision was restored. 

In the story, the men WANTED to see. It made me realize that people need to want to see, and hear. They need to ask with a humble posture. Even some, like Paul the Apostle, need to be knocked off their horse, and blinded, in order to see properly, and listen well. They need to lose, to find and gain. 

Psalms 119, the Gimel, caps off and concludes my thoughts well: “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law.” We have to ask the Lord to open our eyes, should we be blind and want to see. Just as the tabernacle veil was torn by the blood of Jesus, so He can help us rip the curtains from our eyes, and melt away the wax in our ears.

When we see, and hear, the way we always should have-crystal-clear-it’s then our job and highest priority to pray for strength. The Truth will make us weep with pain and joy, as it will be a melody of war and peace. We will see the faults, and hear the abrasion, but we’ll also see grace and experience it in amazement. 

about the author:

Alexandria Grace is a dreamer, a doer, and a daughter of the King. She is a writer who knows her pen is a powerful weapon, and desires to encourage and equip women, young and old, through her writing in the truth that they’re both princesses and warriors. In her free time, she enjoys drinking excessive amounts of tea, getting lost in a good book and watching Disney movies.