Send to Kindleby Suzanne D. Williams
Narrated by Artificial Intelligence, Jenny.
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THE MERCY of God was at work long before I needed it. Thousands of years ago, God saw me, He knew what I would struggle with, and mentioned me by name. By the time I awakened to see His plan for my life and the health He had planned for me, He’d already done more than I could fathom.
This is the promise in the Word, but we’ve generalized it. Just like John 3:16’s “whosoever”, we’ve made ourselves an unknown face in the masses. But this is not how God sees people. Proverbs 3:5 tells us to “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” What we understand is so small in the scope of things. What God knows is specific and precise. He knows DNA, molecules, and our infinite number of ancestors. He could tell us what our four-times Grandpa ate for supper Christmas of 18—.
I am a specific person to God, and so valuable He’d go to great lengths to rescue me from the Pit. Frankly, I’m so used to being a wallflower that when God calls me by name, I’m forever surprised. But God’s mercy is a continual thing with Him. He loves showing mercy. So much that He’s seeking opportunities. His love for Israel is an example in Old Testament prophecy.
“He continues to forgive all your sins, he continues to heal all your diseases, he continues to redeem your life from the Pit, and he continually surrounds you with gracious love and compassion. He keeps satisfying you with good things, and he keeps renewing your youth like the eagle’s.” (Psalms 103:3-5)
The prophet Ezekiel spoke to Israel of God’s desire for them, and the words of chapter 20, verse 32 rings in my ears. There, Israel says they will just be like the heathen, they’ll worship who they want to, even if it displeases their covenant God. But no, they wouldn’t, and in the following verses, the prophet says in Jehovah’s words, “I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers (Verses 41-42).”
“FOR MY NAME’S SAKE, I will not do according to your wicked ways,” He says (Verse 44). Instead, He will show mercy. He will bring blessing.
This cry for them comes from the prophet Jeremiah in Lamentations, as well. In a destroyed and deserted Jerusalem, the prophet weeps God’s broken heart then, chapter 3, he says, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.”
The truth is, God warned them of their transgression long before it happened. In Deuteronomy, He spoke of “when” they would sin and not “if” they would. And to prophets Isaiah and Malachi, He despised their sinful sacrifices, their vain oblations (Isaiah 1:11,13; Malachi 3:8-9) and promised His blessings for rightly-offered ones. To Ezekiel, He showed the polluted temple (Ezekiel 8:9). Yet we read of His love for them from the prophet Micah. Though the heathen would say, “Let her be defiled (Micah 4:11),” in other words, “Give up on her, O God,” God replied, “They know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand His counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor (Verse 12).” What does that mean? From their sinfulness, He would cause harvest. Abundance. They would not stray like they wanted, nor be destroyed like they wanted, but be turned to Him and forgiven.
“Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.” (Micah 5:13)
“Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” (Micah 7:18-20)
“But how does this apply to me, Suzanne?” you ask. “What do convoluted prophecies of Old Testament Israel have to do with me today?”
That He has not changed. The God who SO LOVED the world that He would deliberately die a painful death to rescue us, has been “putting Himself in man’s shoes” forever. Didn’t He save infant Moses from certain death and dedicate Him to Israel’s salvation? Didn’t He send the prophet Jonah to preach deliverance to Ninevah? And they repented and were cleansed.
God is never the bad guy. Never. Our struggles paint Him that way, but it is a lie. He knew me, long before I ever existed, and prepared my rescue. I had to submit to it and walk it out. This is what we miss. He is merciful but if we treat His mercy as insufficient or non-existent, then we won’t SEE IT. Literally. It’s there, in front of us, it’s ALWAYS there, but we are BLIND. But in seeing it, in our submission to Him, if we commit ourselves to the process, God will do great things for us, things beyond our understanding, in the WAY that is best for us, and in His PERFECT TIMING. The end result He desires is always our peace, and the journey is always WITH HIM as OUR REFUGE.
He has been mine. When all looked ugly and dark, and I was thinking the doubts we first fall to thinking, I then remembered His mercy. “Didn’t He heal you of migraines, Suzanne?” Yes, He did. “Didn’t He heal you of diabetes and neuropathy?” Yes, He did. “Isn’t He still on the throne, still good, still Savior?” Yes, He is. And His Spirit is in me and upon me and His Word is Truth, and suddenly, I can take another step.
“What, then, can we possibly say in response to this? Don’t you realize that God is on our side? And if God is for us, who can be against us? God does not need convincing to be good to us; No! It is we who need convincing that God is good to us! If he did not withhold his own Son—but gave him up for us all—don’t you realize that he will withhold nothing good from us? But along with his Son, he will give us all things that are for our good! Who is it, then, that brings charges against those whom God has chosen? Stop believing Satan’s lies about God—it is not God who brings charges against us! It is God who sets us right with himself. It is God who heals and transforms us.” (Romans 8:31-33, Remedy)
About the Author:
Suzanne D. Williams, is a native Floridian, wife, mother, and photographer. She is the author of both nonfiction and fiction books.
Facebook – suzannedwilliamsauthor
Twitter – @SDWAuthor.
