A mighty river

Grace is on my mind. Why don't people notice God's grace in their lives at times? Part of it can be from sin:

Imagine a stream dammed up. The water cannot flow, it pools and becomes very dirty from stagnation. This is a soul in grave sin. It is very ill and the water inside the pool is poisonous. The soul is choking on  the noxious fumes of it's own sin. Hopefully, the person gets disgusted and looks to God for help. This makes a chink in the dam and water starts trickling through. Water (grace) is strong and the chink grows into a hole and the water begins to flow more steadily. As the hole grows bigger pieces of the dam (sin) start breaking off. More and more water flows with increasing strength and power until the dam collapses and water floods through it. This is grace, a free gift from God.

Streams flow into rivers. As a stream grows stronger obstacles are swept away by it's current. Rivers are even more powerful and not much can stop them from flowing. They flow into the sea, which is the mightiest of all. Who can stop the sea?

The stream knocking down the dam is purgation. The river is illumination. The sea is union with God.

Lord, I have a long way to go.