How to Receive God’s Mercy

I think we would all agree that there is no such thing as a “weakness” in God. However, if there were, it would be this–mercy.

God’s mercy embodies all the fullness of His compassion, kindness, tenderness and favor. It is the expression of His goodness and pity toward us.

When you are assailed ferociously by the atrocities of life, what do you do? How do you find relief?

You know that God is a good God. Yet, what do you do when you find little evidence of His goodness in your own life?

What happens to your faith when you are beleaguered by trials, tribulations and storms? Perhaps you’ve endured hardness and misery for years like “a good soldier,” as the Scriptures teach (2 Tim. 2:3). Yet, it seems your defeat stands victorious.

God, speaking through Isaiah, said: “Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you–the sure mercies of David” (Is. 55:3, NKJV).

God’s “sure mercies” are eternally promised to His people. His mercy is a divine attribute that exposes and expresses just how much God is smitten with love for His children.

HE’S DRIVEN TO COMPASSION Out from the many-breasted one, El Shaddai, flows the milk of His compassion. When you or I draw on Him for this quality, He gets the “can’t help its,” and He must respond.

As a mother, it takes little effort for me to understand God’s sympathy for our needs. When my daughter, Kelly, was an infant and wanted to nurse, my body responded irrespective of what I was doing or how I felt about the timing of her cry.

So it is with God. It is His delight to rescue His children and relieve their suffering. So why then is there so much suffering and misery within the body of Christ? The Scriptures clearly tell us that many perish for lack of knowledge.

What you don’t know can hurt you. It can keep you in bondage and hinder the abundant life God has promised every believer.

Ignorance of a law, truth or principle does not exonerate you. Remember when you are in a struggle, the enemy of your soul, Satan, comes to try your knowledge of God.

It is important for you to know that God is the Father of mercies and that He is plenteous in mercy to all who call upon Him. When you have tried everything–given up hope–and are left to stand on your last leg, there awaits the force, the weapon: His infallible mercy to sweep you into deliverance, usher you into escape and transform you into well-being.

In order to obtain mercy, you must be merciful. Solomon wrote: “Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man” (Prov. 3:3-4).

It is not necessary to be innocent, but truth is essential. Mercy and truth are interconnected (see Prov. 28:13).

When suffering becomes so unbearable that you unashamedly admit your need for God’s blessings in order to overcome, you will discover that it is the Father’s good pleasure to extend His mercy to you. Then you will come boldly to His throne of grace and obtain the mercy that is so readily available.

THE MINISTRY OF MERCY What is so great about the mercy of God? What exactly does it provide? God’s mercy is the antidote for the world’s misery. Mercy is His response to the one who is suffering and in need.

It is a lifeline for those who are worthy, and it is help for those who are unworthy. Assuredly, it is for the undeserving; for folks who are out of tricks and without an ace hidden up their sleeves.

God’s mercy is gracious, liberating and available to those who seek its relief. This attribute endures forever.

If you have despaired of hope–even of life itself–and you are merely existing from day to day, I am glad to tell you there is light at the end of your tunnel. There is a refuge; there is relief.

Some years ago, I was personally introduced to the ministry of mercy as I fought to recover from an eight-hour craniotomy–brain surgery. Following the procedure, I laid before the Lord in what I called a “decade of darkness,” fighting one attack after another.

During that time, I was being strengthened through listening to the sound preaching of God’s Word, reading my Bible from Genesis to Revelation and continually abiding in prayer.