The Look of Mercy

Ephesians 2: 1 – 6 The Message, “It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.”

Ever have someone be kind to you when you deserved the worst?

I was in a hurry; when was I not!  I used to think I was born stuck in high gear. It’s not that anything I did was  that important, but I ran around as if it is!

Who knows where I was going on that day, but I hopped in my little black car, shoved my stick shift into reverse, floored the gas…and slammed right into a huge mulch pile. It’s just mulch, right? No big deal? I wish. There, for the entire world to see was a new crack in my bummer.

You know what I was most worried about? Not the cost of the repair. Not the expense of my newly raised insurance bill. I was really concerned about my husband’s reaction. I just knew that he was going to be so furious. If not that, he’d be really disappointed in me.

I have to admit, I delayed a little bit telling him. I hate to deliver bad news! But when I finally did, do you know what he did?

He forgave me. He looked at the crack, looked at me and said, “I know you didn’t mean to do it.”

Oh my! I really didn’t see that coming! What I thought I had coming was what I deserved; to be yelled at for always going too fast. Greg had all the reason in the world to lose his temper, but he didn’t. Instead, he gave me what I didn’t deserve – mercy. He totally demonstrated the love of Jesus. Love gave what I didn’t deserve.

Friends, we deserve from God a lot more than being yelled at! For the sins that we have committed, think about committing and will commit tomorrow, we deserve death. Instead, he looks at us with eyes of mercy, forgives us our sins and gives us a new life with him. That is true love! Love gave what I didn’t deserve.

Who in your life needs mercy today? The new girl at work? Your child climbing the walls on Christmas break? Your husband and the honey-do list you gave him before Thanksgiving? Soak in the truth of God’s mercy towards you today and allow some of that some mercy to spill out around those around you today!

Lynn

5 Comments

  1. Pretty crazy that I had written this to post today. Yesterday, my girls had a car accident in a parking lot Christmas shopping. Another opportunity for Greg to administer grace…and that he did!

  2. Hi Lynn,
    Thanks for this timely devotional. It’s just what I needed to hear this morning!

  3. What a timely message! (no pun intended.) I’m not always in high gear, but my impatience is. I need to show a lot more mercy, because I’m certainly not perfect. How could I expect people to be patient with me if I’m not with them? I thank you for all of your insights and wish you a very Merry Christmas!

  4. Thank you so much for the reminder. My husband has been out of work for a couple of months now and i find myself coming down hard on him . for noit providing for us, for not finishing college and affecting all our income, for being here all day, everyday because of being unemployed. Instead he needs mercy more than anything else right now, to see His love thru me, to be prayed for, lifted up. thanks for the reminder.

  5. What a sweet, sweet reminder. God knew I needed to hear this tonight! Thank you.

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