Tag: Compassion

Posted on

Goodness In Every Season

My Dearest Sister,

As I sit in the field behind my apartment and enjoy the beautiful New York summer afternoon, I cannot help but reflect on the wonder of God’s creation. The songbirds chirp softly to each other as a honey bee darts from the Queen Anne’s Lace to a cluster of dandelions near where I am relaxing in the warm sunlight. There is a light breeze that washes over everything, making the cattail reeds dance and the trees whisper. I am reminded of the passage in Genesis where God finishes each of His creations by calling it good. Surely on a day like this, it would be impossible to disagree with such a conclusion. However I know in about six months this landscape will look completely different. When the flowers, birds, and sunshine have all been replaced by bare trees, gray skies, and three feet of snow on the ground, will I still be praising His creation? Honestly, probably not as readily as I am right now.
In our daily lives, our praise to God seems to work in a similar manner. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to thank God for His goodness when things are going just the way you wanted? When our family is healthy, our home is happy, and our relationships are blossoming, it seems so natural to have an attitude of thankfulness. However, when the storms of life roll in and all we can see is gray skies, that thankful demeanor tends to change. Maybe we receive bad news about a loved one, are facing challenges at work or in our marriage, or maybe we are just going through a season of spiritual dryness, a “wintertime” of the soul. Whatever the trial may be, praising God for His goodness is often the last thing on our mind.
But it shouldn’t be that way, dear sister. Even in the times when we seem to be caught up in a harsh winter season of life, we can trust in the Lord’s goodness toward us. Romans 8:28 says that “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” All things, not just those that make us happy and joyful. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine how those storms and struggles could be a part of God’s design for our life. For example, if you had told me five years ago that today I would be married to a man in the Army, living over a thousand miles away from all my family, and still haven’t finished college, I would have said you were crazy. That’s not the plan I had mapped out for myself at all. However, as verse 28 says, this goodness is ultimately for His purpose. God’s ways are not our ways so His plan for our good sometimes includes challenges filled with sadness, disappointment, frustration, or loneliness. But that should be okay with us because you know what? Even those storms have a place in God’s good design for us. The last five years have proven that to me because I can see how each unforeseen struggle has brought me to a closer, more intimate relationship with Him.
The best thing about this goodness, sister, is that it will never fail us, for it lies at the very core of who God is. His mercy, compassion, lovingkindness, patience – all the things that make Him Lord – are directly related to the fact that He is inherently good. It sets Him apart from every other being in the universe, making Him alone holy and worthy to be praised. The ultimate evidence of this goodness is shown in His blessed gift of salvation. Who else could love a sinful, wicked people enough to send His only precious Son to die an excruciating, humiliating death so that they could spend eternity with Him? My dear friend, we can never overestimate the goodness of the Lord. I don’t think we will even really understand it in its entirety until we meet Him face to face. But one thing is for sure: we can trust in His goodness always, because nothing, not even the darkest, coldest winters of our life, can take away this assurance we have of His eternal grace toward us. So let’s praise God in every season of life and beyond for His dependable goodness!

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.” – Psalm 100:4-5

In His love,
~ Lauren

Posted on

To Love Mercy

He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8

Dear Sister,

The mercy of God is no small matter, we must love it!  Throughout Scripture, we are reminded constantly that we are at God’s mercy for everything–EVERYTHING. The word, mercy, is often interchanged with the words lovingkindness, and compassion.  The three are synonymous, and our hearts and minds are blessed by verses that contain these words.

God’s mercy is great in forgiveness.  In Psalm 51: 1, David cries out to God, Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my iniquity.  David knew that in his grievous sins of adultery, manipulation and murder, God’s mercy provides forgiveness.  Whenever I sin, the Holy Spirit does not let me rest until I confess it to God, ask for His mercy, and trust in His forgiveness.

God’s mercy is boundless in His provision.  In Hosea 14:3, for in You the orphan finds mercy, the prophet acknowledges that all our physical, material and emotional needs are met in the mercy of God.  In my daily prayers to our Heavenly Father, I often take to Him my needs and wants.  Well, He may not give me what my flesh desires, but He always gives me exactly what I need.  Every little morsel of food, my ability to walk and talk and breathe, and the blessing of a loving and dedicated husband are all within His provision, by His mercy upon me.

Also, Sweet Sister, God’s mercy is rich in grace.  In Luke 1: 46-55, Mary exalts God in a burst of song, and remembers that His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him.  Mary knew that her only hope for salvation was God’s mercy in providing a Redeemer.  Alongside Mary, we never deserve to spend our eternity in the bliss of Heaven, yet, God sent us His Son, Jesus, Who is 100% God and 100% man, to pay in full for all of our sins.  By God’s mercy, we are given the faith to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior.  In John 10: 27-28, Jesus gives us His word that we can leave this earth at any time and immediately be in His blessed arms.

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

Oh, to love mercy!

Your Sister,

Mimi

 

Posted on

Mercy Received, Mercy Given

 
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”​
​~ 1 Peter 1:3-5
My dear sister,
 
I love this verse because it wonderfully demonstrates the extent of God’s mercy through explaining what He has done for us. However, even though we have this verse I find that I don’t meditate on God’s mercy quite enough. So let’s meditate on it together. Let’s first consider what mercy is. Easton’s Bible Dictionary describes mercy as “compassion for the miserable.” You read correctly. Mercy is having compassion for those who are miserable, or of a pitiable state. This reveals a hard truth about what we are like before salvation and is confirmed everywhere you look in society. It means that without God, without His saving love in our lives, we would be utterly miserable. So God saw us in our miserable and sinful state and though our sin justly deserved death, He made a way for us to have life. God showed us His great mercy by sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. And when Christ had accomplished that work God raised Him from the dead, conquering sin and death forever. Those who are in Christ abandon their miserable selves and receive new life in Christ, in whom there is joy that abides forever. And if that wasn’t enough to blow your mind, read the next part of the verse. Not only did God give us life by causing us to be born again but He has also prepared for us “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.” But wait! There’s even more! God, even now, is guarding you “through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” How great is this mercy that God has shown us? He owed us nothing, and we deserved nothing but death and yet He gave us everything!
 
So now that we have received this mercy, how should we respond to it? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy” (Matt. 5:7). In Matthew 9:13 Christ says, “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Because we have received mercy it is now required of us that we practice mercy. This is certainly a hard thing for me. Walking around campus at FSU it is all too easy to judge others based on their wardrobe, hairstyle, or colorful vocabulary. In my anger and offense, I selfishly forget that I’m supposed to show mercy to those who don’t know Christ and are therefore in that miserable state that we talked about earlier. This week I hope to find ways to decrease my judgmental thoughts and replace them with acts of mercy. For it is mercy that triumphs over judgment (Jas. 2:13). I hope you too, dear sister, will find ways to show the same kind of mercy to others that Christ has showed to us.
 
In Christ,
 
Kayla