The God We Do not Deserve

Hello!

Last Sunday was celebrated as The Divine Mercy Sunday and so, I see this week as the week of Mercy 😊.

Mercy ... Mercy ... Mercy ... as I ponder about the Mercy of God (my mind delights in taking mental trips that lead towards discovering more about Him), I can't help but stop my train of thoughts as I arrive at the same question that I keep asking; "what is man that You are so mindful of him?" (Psalm 8:4-5)

Mercy that Won't Let Go

Diary of St. Faustina (sourced from Pinterest)

God's mercy cannot be exhausted in one's lifetime. His Mercy is endless. We catch a glimpse of the depth of His Mercy and the extent to which it would go, in His Passion. He could have given up on the way to Calvary,  yet He bore the weight of the heavy cross on His wounded back, for our sake. He could have destroyed us in an instant and recreated another world, yet He chose to pay the FULL price for our redemption from bondage - which we got ourselves into in the first place, and this came at a price which none of us could ever afford.

All through the scriptures, we see God in the old testament, forgiving the stiff-necked Israelites over and over again. I am especially fond of the imagery in the book of Hosea (chapter 2),  where God exposes all the evil that Isreal had done and likened them to the adulterous acts of an unfaithful wife, yet in verse 14, God Himself, says He will lure out her (His People) to the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. *Speechless*👀.

If God was a man, a typical side talk would be that this woman has given Him something to eat.😅

In the new testament, Jesus (God) is portrayed as One who called to Himself, those who were described as sinners - those identified as unworthy and unclean people.  He readily accepted them despite being attacked and accused by the 'Holy Men of God'. His words were very clear in Luke 5:31-32 - He came to call sinners to repentance.

Our Lord Jesus Chirst came running from Heaven to His beloved on earth, with Mercy in His eyes.

Do Not Hide From HIM

When we fall due to our inability to help ourselves in doing right or good, we tend to run away from God. Some of us run away due to guilt and shame, others run away for fear of God's Wrath.

Our first parents did this in the garden of Eden. They ran when they heard God walking towards them. If they understood the God who created them, would they have resorted to hiding? What would life have been if they just decided to run to (and not away from) Him, pleading for His forgiveness? We can only imagine. Who knows? We might have just been chilling beside unpolluted streams watching the sunset while playing catch with cubs or running with a pack of wolves. 😏

We run away and hide from God because of the many distorted images we have of Him. We really do not know the God we serve.

We hide from Him because of Sin. God will not condone a sinful lifestyle and so by default, sin makes us want to hide from Him. However, King David - the one described by God as a man after His own heart, did not run from God...ever. 

David had his fair share of blunders and costly mistakes (2 Samuel 11 - 12:23). 

In a nutshell, David in less than two chapters had performed the following:

• Converted another man's wife in his heart,
• Committed adultery with this man's wife (Uriah - who was a loyal servant of his), 
• Attempted to trick this man to cover up the fruit of the illicit affair,
• Plotted evil against this loyal servant and soldier (whom he is supposed to protect),
• Murdered this loyal soldier, 
• Married the soldier's wife,
• Condemned a man (who turned out to be his very self) in a story that was a light case in comparison to his own doings.

This is David. The man after God's own heart. 😊 Is there anything on that list that you are guilty of? or are your sins worse than his? Despite all these, God showed mercy to David and even allowed the child (Solomon) born to him from Uriah's wife, to be the one who would build Him a house. 

David's life is one of the many examples that prove that there is absolutely nothing too great that God cannot forgive. 

Approach HIM with a Childlike and Honest Heart

God is Love. This cannot be overstated, He is Just but He is also a God who prefers Mercy over Condemnation. God does not delight in the death of an evil person (Ezekiel 33:11) least we talk of a child of His who had just fallen into sin momentarily. With this in view, let us like David be quick to return to Him asking for Mercy with a humble and contrite heart. Be honest and take responsibility for your actions, and trust in the mercy of God. In my little walk with Him, I know that even if He permits that you bear the temporal punishment of sin(s) committed, He lovingly gives you the grace to bear it.  This occurs as some certain sins come with unavoidable consequences according to the law of nature - for instance, pre-marital sex opens one up to STDs, unwanted pregnancies which could lead to more abominable acts like abortion (murder of the innocent) and in some cases, broken trust in relationships. 

God in His infinite mercy, forgives you freely as soon as you approach His throne of Mercy, but you will still have to bear the child or deal with the aftermath of the disease / broken relationship. The difference however between the one who goes to God for forgiveness and the other who doesn't is that the former, will bear the consequence of his or her actions with grace from God - where God in His Mercy, walks with you through the discomfort that comes with the consequences. He strengthens you to bear the consequences of your mistakes.

Let us reject the lies and doubts planted by the devil about the Mercy of God and be quick to approach Him (God) with a childlike heart, believing that He loves us as a Father and will never abandon us to our sins. He takes care of us in His loving kindness, not because he has to, but because He wants to, for that is who He is - A Good Good Father.

May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, reign in our hearts and may the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in perfect peace, Amen.

#Shalom 💙

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