“Apart from the mercy of God, there is no source of hope for mankind.” – Pope John Paul II

“Where mercy, love, and pity dwell, there God is dwelling too.” – William Blake

“Mercy is not something God has, but something God is.” – A.Z. Tozer

“Take notice not only of the mercies of God, but of God in the mercies.” – Ralph Venning

“Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” – Psalm 136:1 NKJV

“Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!” – Lamentations 3: 22-23 BSB

Take a moment today to think about the concept of mercy and how it applies to your life – when you longed for it, when you received it unexpectedly, and how often it occurs unnoticed or undetected.

John Paul said it best:  There is no hope apart from God’s mercy.  Can any of us ensure the earth keeps spinning on its axis, that we awaken from sleep tomorrow morning, or that our hearts keep beating five minutes from now?  Our very existence is centered in mercy – God’s pity, compassion, and grace toward all He has created.

As Jeremiah so eloquently writes in the Book of Lamentations, these mercies never fail.  They are new every morning, yet we go about our lives in a sort of clouded denial they are occurring every day.  Every step we take, each idea that surfaces in our minds, every bite of food we consume or breathe we draw is centered in the concept of mercy – a form of compassion and benevolence that isn’t something God has or uses but an essential attribute of who He is.

Contemplate that for a moment.  Mercy isn’t something earned or granted or applied randomly.  Mercy is WHO GOD IS – a defining, immutable characteristic about Him that endures forever.  The Scriptures above point out this mercy that never fails is accompanied by God’s other defining attributes of faithfulness, goodness, and loving devotion 😊

Maybe life has you in a place right now where mercy seems like a pipe dream.  You’ve been praying for mercy, yet your circumstances are void of it.  The marriage just gets worse, the illness intensifies, and the losses appear to be insurmountable.  You long for mercy and none arrives. 

Why?  If mercy defines who God is, where is He in my life?  Where is the loving devotion and faithfulness?  Where is the mercy that never fails or comes fresh to us every morning?

Part of our human condition relies on our own reasoning, our limited foresight, and our tendencies to hold tight to our own goals and desired outcomes.  We foolishly expect God to operate within them.  When He doesn’t, we question His love for us and even question His existence.  We question if He is even merciful at all.

We don’t believe a Holy God can have immutable characteristics.  We don’t believe He operates on a set of unchanging principles, but as humans do – meaning mercies are doled out to a random few, that they are earned, or worse yet, dictated by fate.

We are not omniscient, yet we want to define mercy in the moment – on our terms.  We are far from faithful, yet we want to self-righteously judge His level of faithfulness toward us.  The unnoticed, daily mercies that flow to us don’t stop us from questioning His loving devotion.

How, my friend, can any human being decide what is and isn’t mercy?  Shouldn’t we, with great reverence and humility, trust that a faithful, loving, gracious, omniscient God is continually operating in a state of mercy toward us? If He IS MERCY, then wherever we find ourselves currently, we can be assured we are smack dab in the center of it!

If God is omnipresent, then mercy surrounds us.  If He is loving and gracious, then our circumstances, either good or bad, are being controlled and guided with tender mercies at the epicenter of both.

May you begin to see all things unfolding in your life right now within the light of a God who is good.  See the loving faithfulness present in all your circumstances.  That compassion, that mercy, coexists with an Omnipresent God who is intricately involved in everything you are facing.  Trust that an enduring mercy and compassion are at work within each event and situation.  If God is mercy, then mercy never fails – it endures!

God bless you as you anticipate the new mercies that await you tomorrow 😊