God's Mercy: Open the Door.
- Jessamyn Anderson
- Jan 12, 2016
- 2 min read
Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.
(Isaiah 40:1-5)
God’s mercy is unfathomably beautiful. I can’t even wrap my brain around His mercy and how much power it has to change my life. Even when I find myself in the darkest pits of sin and shame, His mercy shines through the darkness to lead me back to Him. I’ve had times in my life when I feel like I’m in that dark pit for days or even weeks at a time. I am happy to say I haven’t felt that way for a long time, but I have recently experienced brief moments of that darkness of sin, and God’s mercy has been shining more brightly than ever. Do I deserve it? No. Is that why God gives it? No. He gives because He loves. And that is why His mercy is such a grace in our lives.
God is always willing to pour His mercy upon us, but unless we ask for it and accept it, we will never experience a change in our hearts. I have a vivid picture in my head of how this works: when I sin, I feel like I’ve locked myself in a dark room. When I accept the fact that I’ve sinned, a door appears in the room, and I am aware that it’s there. God is on the other side, patiently waiting for me to let Him bring me out of the darkness. When I finally decide that I want God’s help and love to be free of sin, I open the door (He never forces His way in) and God’s light fills the room, and He pulls me out that room. The key (I’m actually thinking of a key in the door of this room) is letting him in.
When I think about how much mercy God is willing to show me, I’m overcome by joy and peace and love for Him. How can I not devote my time and my life to Him after all of the forgiveness He’s shown me? Don’t get me wrong… I still have a lot of work to do when it comes to devoting my life to God. But thinking about His mercy and forgiveness is one of the best reminders for why I should devote my time and my life to Him.
I pray that each of you can find peace in God’s mercy and love and forgiveness. Know that He loves you more than you can possibly imagine, and He wants to help pull you away from sin. Just open the door.
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