Sam reclined in his chair. He breathed easy; he rested. Of all the things he imagined he would do in the presence of God, he never imagined he would rest; truly rest. Sam realised that there was no need to fear; no need to hide and no need to try justify his shortcomings. God was with him, and he hadn’t used their time together to point out any of his faults, not even once.

God had witnessed the battle that raged inside, the battle that fought against God, the battle to be above God, the battle to live apart from God. He had seen Sam’s bitterness, his betrayal and his treason. He had seen everything; he knew everything, yet he didn’t expose anything. On the contrary, he covered over Sam’s shame. God had removed the blood soaked uniform Sam had worn for so long and replaced Sam’s battle weary rags with clothing from his own heavenly wardrobe.

God never questioned why Sam had, for so many years, chosen to side with the enemy inside. The one who deceived him into building a military complex within his soul, who declared war is peace and God was nothing more than a fool’s crutch. God never accused him of treason, and even if Sam believed that he’d somehow signed a pact with the war criminal inside, God never did. God knew Sam; he had always known Sam. He knew he was a child of the Most High God. In spite of how far into the darkness Sam had travelled, the God who turns darkness into light had found him, and, in an act grace that caused the forces of evil to scream in defeat, he had wrapped his arms of justice around him.

God had meet Sam in his weakest moment, amidst the roars of accusations and condemnation; within the walls of enslavement and debauchery; under the weight of sin and deception and surrounded by a dirty history of conquests and cruelty. God didn’t demonstrate his justice by summoning Sam to appear before his high and lofty throne and demand an account of his misdeeds, but rather he came down to meet Sam amidst his guilt and shame, and what did God do? He loved him, and he loved him completely. He kept no record of his wrongs. He didn’t ignore Sam’s failings, but rather God took the shame upon himself; he absorbed the darkness that had consumed Sam and destroyed it in the process. Sam had been set free by the grace of God.

Sam soared once more thought the galaxies. He beamed with light; he was light! He marvelled at the stark reality of God’s ways; his justice was nothing like Sam had imagined. It was not a rod in an angry god’s hand, destined to destroy the wicked; rather it was a gift that justified the wicked! God’s justice was a revelation of his very own nature, a divine statement of just how far he was willing to go in order to embrace mankind. God’s justice was not a reflection of his wrath, but rather a perfect picture of his love!

It was this revelation of God’s justice that allowed Sam to find his rest in God’s presence, for Sam concluded that if God had not condemned him while he was guilty in the darkness, he would certainly not do so now that he had been justified into God’s light!

Sam was high on the spirit of God’s wisdom, and in that moment of clarity he knew that the villain who hid behind a thousand masks, the adversary within, who had played on Sam’s own fears and weakness for so long, the liar and the thief, who had robbed Sam of so much for so long, had been instantly, and totally, defeated. For what power did the enemy within have left to attack Sam with now?

God had completely justified Sam by the working of his grace, so what was left to be condemned? If God’s own justice held him this securely, then who, in all of creation, was strong enough to strip him from such a secure embrace? Nobody, and Sam knew it. His feet were secure upon an unshakable rock. He life now secure within an indestructable love. How glorious.