If You Want Mercy, You Must Do This
‘Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.’ Matthew 5:7
To kick things off, here’s the definition of mercy: compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.
I feel like you only talk about mercy when YOU need it.
Or maybe, when you want it.
The other week I was scheduled to fill in for my wife at a school meeting.
She was hosting Roscoe’s 10th bday party.
It was a last minute Covid-19 school meeting regarding an upcoming field trip.
I said I would go.
I missed it and apologized.
This was when I needed a bit of mercy.
I had gotten caught up with my dad visiting from out of town along with it being the same day I lost everything in the stock market.
For me, it was a really crappy day.
Chantelle came through big and showed me lots of mercy and I was thankful.
I especially needed it that day.
But what about others?
How often are we faced with the art of showing mercy?
If it doesn’t happen often, why not?
If you do show mercy often, how come?
What are your triggers to giving mercy?
What are your triggers to declining mercy?
It’s an interesting thought of how mercy actually works in our lives.
I dove into some Tim Keller vibes as to answering the question of, “where does Mercy come from?”
So the answer to the first question is that mercy comes from a heart that has first felt its spiritual bankruptcy. The heart has come to grieve its sin, and has learned to wait meekly for the timing of the Lord, and to cry out in hunger for the work of God’s mercy to satisfy us with the righteousness we need.
If that doesn’t mess you up, I don’t know what will.
As I read the ‘bankrupcy of the soul’ line, it’s just so descriptive.
That moment of sheer zero in your soul.
If you have had that feeling, you know.
It sucks.
I remember a few times where all I could do was just scream for God to grant me some mercy. I was panicked. I was crying. I didn’t know what else to do.
It comes back to us being humble.
If you want to be a merciful person, you must become a broken person.
It’s in these moments of desperation that we can link all of our blessings to the almighty. Then and only then, can we understand a bit of mercy in our lives.
In the end, mercy wins.
https://open.spotify.com/track/1YyGh7J8b7SesIiaxKsQip?si=k_8XuGdgSPGH98sNHYJRzw
