Mercy, Grace or What???

When good things happen to change our bad circumstances, is it grace? Is it mercy? Or is it because of being faithful to God? What if we aren't faithful?

Mercy is God’s favor to us in spite of our unfaithfulness.

Grace is God giving us the ability to walk through unfavorable circumstances.

Faithfulness to God is my obedience to praise Him, cry out to Him, and seek Him in all times, both in times of good circumstance and times of bad circumstance. Does being faithful to God mean that I must be perfect? Does it mean that I must do everything right?

A close friend of mine recently mentioned in an e-mail that God was blessing my faithfulness to God. We all use terms like this, and of course, mean the best. However, I had already been thinking about the fact that I am not perfectly faithful, so He could not be blessing me because of MY faithfulness.

Another thought roaming around in my head lately is that God does not give us what we deserve. That’s a wonderful thought. Also often, we do not deserve some of what comes to us in life. That’s why it’s called life. Real life is learning to live out what we believe when bad things happen to us (working out our salvation). God works on a totally different level. He operates by mercy and grace. His mercy is poured out on us, thus He provides His grace to walk through the minefields of life. That is IF we have given our life to Him. If, we have cried out to Him for His salvation. Once we’ve done that, then He continues to save us regularly from the ravages of life. It must be that God is blessing because He is faithful, and I am simply receiving His mercy and grace.

Are you confused? Well . . . ok, then just praise Him for His blessing today. Don’t worry about if it is mercy, grace or faithfulness. Just simply praise Him. Continue to cry out to Him. Continue to walk with Him daily, regardless of what circumstances you are walking through.

John Piper says in his book, Future Grace, “The safest place in the universe is with our arms around the neck of God. And the most dangerous place is any path where we flee from His presence.”

He will bless us as we come to Him for help. He says that we are to come to Him as little children. Isaiah 30:19 says, “He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry, when He hears it, He will answer you.”

Several years ago my husband was on a prayer walk, which is a regular part of his life. He was praying, asking God to show him God’s heart. A still small voice said, “I just did.” This is the scene that had just taken place:

A young couple and their son were walking a trail and coming toward my
husband. The son ran ahead and ran down toward the creek. A little voice
whimpered, “Dad, I’m going to need your help on this one.”
The dad said, “Ok, son. I’ll be right there.”

Isn’t this exactly what God wants from us? He wants us to call out to Him in need. He wants to help us.

Calling out to Him. Praising Him.

Jesus said, “Let the children alone and do not hinder them from coming to me, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14 NASB