Hidden Mercy

Last Monday night I was teaching at a young adults Bible study held at my church. That was the first time we met for this Bible study and I wanted to create a lot of discussion. So I decided to teach on the somewhat controversial question, can God be loving and judgemental at the same time?

Most times during our christian walk we have no problem believing that God is loving and merciful. But then we will experience painful situations that are a result of God's judgement or testing. In those times we find it much harder to believe that we serve a merciful God.

For about ten minutes I taught about the mercy and encouragement that we receive from God. Trying to start discussion I asked the question, “we all believe that God is merciful don't we?” After a seconds a young woman sitting less than three feet from me said, “well no.”

She was not disagreeing with me because of hatred towards God. On the contrary she is saved, and loves God. I asked her to explain what she meant by saying that God is not merciful. She proceeded to talk about a time when one of her family members was very sick. In time this loved one died and the girl was felt in her own words, “all alone.” The memories of that painful experience caused her to question whether or not God was actually showing her mercy at that time.

I did not confront the young woman for what she had said. Actually I respect her for having the guts to say it. For we all have been in her situation at one time or another. Going through a time of great pain and crying out to God for mercy. But the relief that we pray for never comes. In those moments we do not question the existence of God, but a part of us wonders why he did not show us mercy.

After hearing her story many of us in the room began to talk about painful situations God brought us through. There was the story of a teenager who wrecked his car and was scared to drive again. A married man shared how he in the past would step into the shower and cry uncontrollably. A nurse talked about the emotional pain that she experiences in her job. I talked about getting involved in a terrible traffic accident that totalled both my car, and the one that hit me. As depressing as those stories sound hope came through them.

We all shared the pain of those experiences. But we also shared the mercy that we experienced along with the pain. Of how God allowed the teenager to walk away from his wreck without injury. God's giving the married man a wife who was able to help him in his time of need. His giving the nurse emotional strength that she needs in stressful job. And his giving me an incredible peace immediately after destroying my car.

The mercy is there all the time along side our pain. But many times it is hidden. A better way to say that is we are blind to that mercy. We have our definition of mercy that involves God taking away all of the pain that we are experiencing immediately. But there are other forms of mercy. And God in his infinite wisdom gives to us the form of mercy that we need the most at that time.

As the discussion ended I began to think about just how blind many of us are to God's mercy. That is why we all as brothers and sisters in Christ must help one another see that mercy which they may be blind to. And we must ask God to open our blind eyes to see the mercy that seems so hidden.