Mercy

I don't really have anything clever to say or some cool spin on something to point out. Just simply wanted to share with you what spoke to my heart tonight. I've started back at the beginning in Genesis. I don't know that this particular book has ever spoken to me so much. Every day I read it there seems to be something that speaks exactly to where I am. Tonight I was in Genesis chapter 16. At this point God has already promised Abraham and Sarah a child. Obviously, like most of us if we're honest, they're having a hard time wrapping their minds around this "promise." It didn't make any sense. Sarah is already beyond child bearing age, Abraham is pert near 100 years old. It would have made sense if God had promised this 60, 70 years ago, but now the chances are looking slim. So, Sarah makes the suggestion that Abraham should just conceive an heir with her handmaiden, Hagar. These sorts of things are what happens when we take Heavenly matters and make them earthly matters. God had already told them that He'd handle it. There was no need for them to get their little finite minds in the middle of it. Now I'm not being condescending at all, I've tried to figure things out with my little bird brain plenty of times! When God promises you something on a Divine basis though, that's usually the way He intends to work it out - Divinely. Boy, don't I know it. I have tried to do things on my own so many times and I'm sure that the Lord just looks down at me with this bewildered look on His face thinking, "Kaila? What in the world are you doing? I told you I'd handle this now, just, STOP!" This is probably what He wanted to yell down to Abraham and Sarah when they were contemplating this different means to an end. Yet, because our God is gracious and allows us to have our own free will, he stepped back and watched them try things their way. Well, of course, Hagar conceived a child. The Word tells us that after she was with child she began to despise Sarah. Sarah didn't appreciate that. She took the matter to Abraham and he pretty much told her, she's your handmaid, deal with her how you see fit. In Chapter 16 verse 6 the Bible says, "And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her face." What I take that to mean is that she made it so difficult on Hagar, made it abundantly obvious that she did NOT like the situation and did NOT want her there, that Hagar left.

Now remember, the child that was conceived with Hagar should never have been. That was not God's plan. Hagar was carrying the result of a mistake. (note, I didn't say the child was a mistake but the RESULT of a mistake - Just wanted to clarify :) ) But, listen to verse 7. This verse makes me want to cry when I read it. "And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness...And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou?" Good gracious. God sent mercy looking for her. Do you see the grace, the love there? God Himself sent an angel to minister to a woman and a baby so out of the will of God it wasn't even funny. If they had followed God's plan there would never have been a child conceived through a handmaid. There would never have been a tense relationship between a woman and her maid. There would have never been a father not knowing what to do about a son that wasn't in the will of God, but that he loved deeply. BUT, God sent mercy. He sent a true angel of mercy to that well to find Hagar. How appropriate for her to find mercy right there at the well. Centuries later a little Samaritan woman would find mercy at a well, too. And you know what the angel did when he got there? He made Hagar a promise. "I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude....and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction." That's what mercy does. It goes into those places where we've messed up the most and, it doesn't take the consequences away, it works through them. There have been times I've known I've messed up. I KNEW I had made the wrong decision and I just prayed, "Lord, please let your mercy step in where I have messed up." And you know what? He did. Yes, we still have to deal with consequences, we still have to try to make things right, we still have to seek forgiveness, we still have to deal with the decisions we've made, but mercy is there to walk that road with us. Mercy lets us find favor. God's mercy gives us wisdom to know how to handle those tense situations. Mercy gives us strength to live the life we have to the fullest, even while living with daily reminders of the mistakes we've made. And sometimes, like with Ishmael, God steps in and even speaks a special promise or blessing over the area we've failed in. In the next chapter Abraham prays and God grants His request and promises to bless and prosper Ishmael. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. He's the same God for you that He was for Hagar. If He can find a woman out in the wilderness, send an angel to let her know the mistakes she and those around her have made can still be blessed, He can do the same for you. Mercy is for you.

#faith #miracles #answeredprayer #peace #hope #Devotion #Jesus #trust #Mercy