While a vow of silence is not a permanent lifestyle that God wants there is something to be said for a silent hour, a moment and a prayer. Silence can be the doorway through which God’s Holy Spirit enters so that we can hear beall He is longing to say.
‘Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” ‘ Matthew 26:48
Over the last two weeks we spent four glorious days alone at a lake cottage (I’ll try to post some photos tomorrow) and then another eight with our family. Being in close proximity with seven grandchildren, I often heard one phrase repeated; “That’s not fair!” The days of our own struggle as parents raising two hyper competitive sons with all the attendant frustrations, weariness and uncertainties sprang back to life for me.
Why is it that life often seems to deal us an unfair hand to play? Why does one grandson have kidneys that don’t work properly and another has special needs which have kept him on a second grade reading level into his pre-teen years? Why does one succeed at almost everything and another is in a battle just to finish high school? None of this seems fair and as a grandparent my tendency is to want to fix everything; but in most cases I can’t. It feels like we just clean up one mess in time for another one to fall from the sky. Where is God? Jesus could certainly have asked these questions along with a thousand more on that night when He was betrayed. After all, His disciple Judas was supposed to have been one of his closest friends. Jesus had called Judas and taught him. Jesus had multiplied bread and walked on water while he was there. Jesus had handed him the bread and the cup at the last supper, and yet there Judas stood with a smile on his face as the temple guards arrested Jesus. Where was the answer to Jesus’ prayers in the garden? Where were the thousands He had healed, prayed for and wept over? The answer may seem obvious to us as we just the flip the page and see that Jesus would rise from the dead. But at the moment of unfairness and pain both for us and for Jesus those concepts feel far away . And yet God is in control of the circumstances …even the unfair ones and like Judas’ betrayal, are firmly held in the His hands. If like Jesus you continue to love and trust Him alone; God will reach down and take those things that hurt the most and cause good to come – both for ourselves and for those around us. Pain, hurt and betrayal are not the end of your story There is still another page to turn! Rest in Him. No one knows more than Jesus the sting of unfairness and betrayal that you are going through. He is holding on to you and has promised to always be with you; even to the end!
O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14 KJV
Often when we ask God for mercy, we are asking for a past sin to be forgiven. But mercy is about more than sin and more than just about what is past. We often think of the Psalms as being a book written by David but many were written by Asaph, two by Solomon and Psalm 90 was written by Moses, as a prayer for mercy. Interestingly he first asks for mercy early. If you are like me you might want to try this. It doesn’t take me long into my day to mess up! But he is not here simply asking for God to forgive past sins. Mercy is also a cry for undeserved help in every area of our lives.
What are you facing today? Is it physical weakness or disease? Are you struggling in a damaged relationship, financial pressures or unfair accusations? God offers His mercy “early”. He anticipates our need before we even ask. He knows about the storm even before we hear the weather forecast. He sees the test results before we get the mail. God has already looked through our empty cabinets before we make our grocery list. He stands at the door of our room and watches us as we sleep, and then greets us as we wake. In the old covenant days God’s special holy place in the Tabernacle was called the mercy seat. Today, this very morning Jesus is sitting at that same spot and offering His mercy before we even speak a word, make our coffee or begin our work. He knows what will unfold and lovingly gives us mercy and all we need to do is ask!
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