I love hymns. They are a such beautiful reminders of God’s majesty, love and faithfulness. The

I love hymns. They are a such beautiful reminders of God’s majesty, love and faithfulness. They can also be the sweetest, most elegant truth of the Gospel, humbling and renewing me as often as I sing them. Amazing Grace in particular is a Hymn that holds a special place in my heart and has brought me more tears of joy than any other. And the majority of those tears can be attributed to a single line:

“How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.”

This part of the song reminds me, every time, of a plane ride when I was 16. I had been wrestling all summer with doubts and confusion about my faith. I was, in terms of spiritual maturity, still an infant despite having read through much of the Bible and memorized several verses. I can still remember so clearly the questions that had plagued me all summer; “How can I be saved by grace and still have to bear good fruit?” and  “How can I know I’m saved?”.

So there I was, on the plane home, having had the gospel explained to me nine ways to sunday; spiritually exhausted and as uncertain as ever. And I began to pray. It was a prayer of broken surrender. I didn’t know what It was I was missing. I couldn’t understand why all of the sudden everything seemed to be falling apart, but I was tired.

And then the Lord answered.

I was hit in that instant by an overwhelming flood of understanding! I was literally gasping under the weight of it all! There were no new words. The message hadn’t changed. But where before there had only been confusion, there was comprehension. Where there was guilt there was grace! My eyes were suddenly opened; “was blind but now I see”.

It’s been ten years since that plane ride. Through countless blessings including marriage to my incredible wife and the birth of our son, it remains the single sweetest moment of my entire life. And every time I hear Amazing Grace I sing along and am taken right back to “the hour I first believed”.

-Aaron