Entry #7 - When all you can say is, "Merci!"

Sometimes I get the feeling that because I like to write, people think somehow I must be different from everyone else in this world.  I assure you, I am not.  I feel deep pain and ache in my heart over the death of loved ones just as you do—and I miss them so incredibly much each passing day!  My heart cries out daily that my boys would always make choices that draw them closer to a loving relationship with their Heavenly Father, just as you cry out for your children.  I get frustrated with peripheral demands of my job (which in reality actually hinder me from doing the work) just as you do.  Oh, and let’s not even get started on society and politics!  I often fail miserably at many things.  And, I cannot count the number of times I surely have been a disappointment to my Heavenly Father.  I am not perfect.  I am real.  I am human.  I am very guilty of publicly plowing through life with an effervescent smile on my face and the classic “Oh, I’m fine, thanks!” response; sometimes it’s just easier that way.

If you have been following my blog, by this time you are well aware of my affinity for interesting vocabulary.  I really can’t help it—it’s the teacher in me. However, when I review my daily failings, the word that surfaces to the top is mercy.  Most definitions concur that mercy is the ability to have compassion on the one who is at fault.   My friend smiles at me and loves me even though while be-bopping along in my own little world I just blurted out, “Oh, hi! How are you doing?”  Her heart is full of pain from the recent loss of a loved one, but she has mercy on me anyway.  As a result, I am blessed because she has chosen to personify God’s plan:

“He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”   Micah 6:8 (NIV)

Having been raised in a Christian home, surrounded by Christian family and friends, I would have to say there are not many major sins in my life.  I don’t steal. I don’t murder.  I don’t smoke, drink, or use foul language.  But oh, the sins of the heart are many. I suffer from the natural ability to be inattentive to what really matters.  I do not make the most of every opportunity God gives me.  I have a tendency to focus on the problem rather than the solution.  When I am with friends who whine and complain about anything; then all too quickly I find myself trying to compete.  Since God does not grade sins by degrees of sinfulness…sin is sin…I am a sinner.  I need a Savior.  I need His mercy. 

What I know in my heart is this:

“He who conceals his sins [and folks, it doesn’t matter what kind or how big; sin is sin in God’s eyes] does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”  Proverbs 28:13 (NIV)

Therefore, each day I share in the poignant prayer of King David:

“Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.  Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.”   Psalm 25:4-7 (NIV)

The cool thing is that God has already provided the answer. Not only this, but He understands our need for repetition and reassurance:

“You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us.”  Micah 7:18b-19 (NIV)

“The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”  James 5:11 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul and I share something in common:

“I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”  1 Timothy 1:16 (NIV)

And so, I sing:

Depth of mercy! can there be

            Mercy still reserved for me?

                        Can my God his wrath forbear?

                                    Me, the chief of sinners, spare?

I have long withstood his grace;

            Long provoked him to his face;

                        Would not harken to his calls;

                                    Grieved him by a thousand falls.

Now incline me to repent;

            Let me now my sins lament;

                        Now my foul revolt deplore,

                                    Weep, believe, and sin no more.

The above is an untitled hymn written by Charles Wesley and taken from:

The Advent Christian Hymnal: A Collection of Hymns and Tunes for Public and Social Worship.  1894. 24^th ed. Boston: Advent Christian Publication Society, 1930. Print.

No, I haven’t forgotten the title of this blog.  The French word for “Thank you” is Merci.  And it is all I can say when my Heavenly Father reaches down to me in His infinite MERCY.

~~~~~ Weep, believe, and sin no more. ~~~~~

Respectfully written and submitted by:

Dotty Willmon, Resurrection Christian