Mercy in Abundance…
“Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.†~ Psalm 51:10-11 (ESV)
As I was preparing for my post last night, Psalm 51 came to mind. Reading through it I was reminded of my own sinfulness and faithlessness toward God.
David wrote the Psalm right after he had an affair with Bathsheba and had Uriah killed to be with her. David reminds me so much of myself…Not that I have had an affair or had someone killed. Wait a minute. I have had an affair and actually killed…
Let me explain. I did not always walk with God. Sure, I grew up in a Christian home, went to church, and attended Sunday school as a child. Between the age of 22 and oh, 35 I was far away from God. Didn’t need Him–no mam’. No need to play by the rules; ‘play’ by God’s rules. Prayer here and there was enough. Church at Christmas? Certainly! The rest of the year I did fine without Him.
Then the trouble started in 1988. My dad got really sick again. We all had hoped that the treatments several years before had cured him. So, I just had to pray a little harder, right? Then my Sweetheart’s job was threatened due to the cut in tax-dollars to bases outside the US. Still my Bible was collecting dust on our bookshelf.
Where was God in all this? Why wasn’t He listening to my pleas? No healing for my dad (at least not the one I had hoped for), no job in sight for my Sweetheart in Germany…Through all this, God showed me His mercy. He removed me from were I was comfortable. He sent me to the desert…
“For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.†~ Psalm 51:16-17 (ESV)
Yes, the desert has been good for me. God had to break my spirit and heart to return to Him. Has this journey been hard for me? Of course! It has also been a joyous one. You see, when I go through the valleys of life now, I have Someone who can comfort me like no one else. His mercy was greater than my faithlessness…
Lord of Heaven and Earth. Although this road back into Your arms was not easy, You had not given up on me. Lord, I want to thank You for that. Use me today and all the days of my life remaining here on earth, to show others how abundant Your mercy truly is. In the precious name of Jesus, the Lord of my life, I pray. ~ Amen
No matter where we might wander off to, He will never let us go…
Blessings on your day and as always…
God is so good. Even when he takes us through the deserts to get to our promised lands – its the journey with Him that makes us grow. Thank you for your beautiful post. It reminds us that the road isn’t always easy and He will take us through some dry places to teach us to grow in Him and build our faith. Thanks for sharing. I love reading these devotions.
Oh Iris…
No matter where we might wander off to, He will never let us go…
Amen… Amen… 🙂
Iris, this is beautiful. And you and me both know the move is bitter/sweet, we know we are where God wants us to be, and we are serving where he wants us to serve, but it took moving us out of our comfort zone to get there (and away from family). But there is no where I would rather be then in God’s will.
Hehehe after the affair, and murder sentence I was re-thinking my lunch with you..JUST KIDDING GIRL.
Have you ever noticed that those who have really hit rock bottom in life have the deepest, most sincere faith? I sense that is true of you. I’m so sorry you have had to suffer, but I’m so thrilled that your broken spirit caused you to turn to wholeheartedly to Him. He is so compassionate, and when we realize that Jesus is the solution to our problems, and not the cause, we please Him. (((Hugs)))
Great thought, Iris. It seems we all have to spend some time in the wilderness at some point in our walk, but we can take great comfort in knowing God never loses sight of us during that time. I was reading Mark 6:47-51 where it tells the story of the disciples rowing to the other side of the lake as Jesus had told them to do. It says they were straining with their oars because of a strong wind. Then it says Jesus came walking out on the water and heard them crying out to him. So he got in their boat and the wind calmed down. Isn’t it great to know that even though we may be in the middle of a storm, if we cry out to Him he will come and get in our boat? God is closer to us when we’re in the desert, the wilderness and in the storm than at any other time. So take heart. God is for us, no matter what the circumstances.
Thank you for sharing Iris. I learned more about you in this post. You are such an inspiration that I didn’t realize that you had gone through a dry spell in your faith.
Jennifer
Loved the post–so encouraging. God is faithful whether we’re faithful or not. THanks for sharing your heart and life with us.
love you bunches, Iris.