Monday, March 6: After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the
house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in
him. She then said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have
come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!”
But he said to her, “Give me
your son.” He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber
where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. He cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought
calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?” Then
he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s
life come into him again.”
1 Kings
MERCY
This verse ends up with a
happy ending….The boy is saved. Well, I
guess Elijah showed her!! Elijah isn’t
around anymore, but God still sends people into our lives to show us and remind
us that He is merciful and loving. Just
like the woman in 1 Kings, our lives sometimes seem overwhelming and our
troubles seem more than we can bear. We
may play the blame game and question God.
I truly believe God knows where that is coming from and He
understands. (That’s what makes Him so
great!)
Over time we as humans tend
to build a wall around our hearts to protect us from the hurt that things in
life may cause. I like to think that it
is during the tough times God gets busy dropping hints and keeps prodding at us
in different ways to show us His mercy and love.
Mercy is defined as
“KINDNESS beyond what can be expected or more KINDNESS than justice requires.“ God’s mercy is a little hammer and chisel to peck and
pick away at that wall we have built up. Each reminder may not make the wall
come crashing down all at once. A piece
may fall away or a crack may appear when even the smallest of kindnesses comes
your way. It may be a note that appears
in your mailbox showing you that someone is thinking of you. It may be something as simple as someone
letting you ahead of them in line. These
kindnesses won’t make headlines in even the smallest of small town
newspapers. But they may change
someone’s life. A word of encouragement,
maybe a reminder from someone saying, “Hey, no matter what—you are loved, don’t
ever forget that!”
The best kindnesses are
sometimes the ones that sneak up on you.
The unexpectedness brings richness to the deed. Just when you thought no one cares and no one
could possibly understand, along comes another crack in the wall.
Mercy….Compassion….Kindness…whatever
you choose to call it, it’s all good.
Dear Lord, please open my eyes and heart to the
goodness and mercy you send my way. God
of compassion surround me with your love.
Amen
Alison Beal