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Mercy In The Middle
by Cate Russell-Cole There has been a great deal of upheaval in my life which has resulted in a lot of hurt, and grief. In the middle of this, it's been hard to trust God. At times I have clung to Him, and at other times, I have been very angry that He allowed me to get into a situation where I would be so badly damaged and disillusioned. I completely went to pieces one night, and God finally got through to me that He was still there, I just hadn't been able to reach Him as I have been stuck in my own pain and couldn't see straight. I felt awful. It is the same as when you accuse someone of something they haven't done, then find out you were wrong. What could I do but apologise? The greatest thing was He responded with, "That's what I am here for." No offence was taken. He could handle the assault on His character, and it didn't in any way harm our relationship. That's pretty special. I don't know too many people who could do that so easily, and with so much love. When I taught Sunday School, we sang songs with the children about God's love being so high you can't climb over it, so low you can't climb under it and so wide you can't get around it. They were action songs, and they were a lot of fun. The basic message was, you just can't dent God enough for Him to stop loving you. What I have learned in the meantime is, I cannot comprehend just how great God's love for me is. I get little glimpses every so often that blow my mind, but the full size, is way beyond me. I know He treats me better than any person has or will and that is as much as I can get my head around for now. The trouble with really understanding where we stand with God is, He is so different. I know there are lots of Scriptures that teach us about how He thinks and feels about us, but it is not the same as seeing a smile on His face when He sees me, or giving me a hug when I need it. It takes longer for me to learn to trust Him, and believe how special I am because of that. I like some evidence, and due to His patience and great mercy over the years, He has given me some when needed. It never seems to be enough though, when I am walking through the blackest periods of my life. One of the songs which has helped me is written by Amy Grant and talks about a little girl, who is now grown up, who was sexually abused. The lyrics are: "Ask me how I know there's a God up in the heavens, Where did He go, in the middle of her shame? Ask me how I know there's a God up in the heavens, She says His mercy is bringing her life againshe's coming to life again. He's in the middle of her pain, In the middle of her shame He's in the middle, Mercy in the middle" It's that one line I cling to. "Mercy in the middle." That is what He gives me. No lectures when things go wrong, no screaming or blaming, no control and manipulation. Love and mercy. It's so precious to me. It is one hundred percent acceptance, and no one has given me that before. There are many Scriptures that talk of grace, but I have never understood what it means. So many of the words in the Bible I skim over, and never go looking for the real meaning, but last weekend I looked up grace, and the meaning touched me. Grace is so simple. I've heard it called "God's riches at Christ's expense" and know all about how it relates to God forgiving our sins etc. Grace is just simply love. Loving-kindness and goodwill. That is how God treats us, with love, and kindness. He wants the best for us (goodwill), so He gives us the best in how He heals, provides for, and forgives us. Don't we all long so much for love? It is there, if we reach out to Him and receive it. For me, it means in the middle of my anger and pain and frustration, God pushed aside the wrong things I thought and said, and was just there for me. We're loved so much. He won't leave us, He just doesn't want to. He is completely absorbed in our care. I don't think I will ever understand God's love, because my human mind is just not built to take in something so wonderful. All I can do is regard Him in awe and express my gratitude. Guaranteed, even with this lesson learnt, at some stage in the future I will get angry and do the wrong thing again. However, every time something goes wrong and the Lord reaches out to me, I slowly get stronger and more secure in His love. It is a process, and a great journey of discovery. I am so grateful He has never given up on me, no matter what. This article by Cate Russell-Cole is under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) Written in Australian English. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |