What Do You Think? Wednesday
My mom is scheduled to come live with me next week and I welcome the challenge. I didn’t immediately feel this way. I shared with you on Monday my challenge to flow in the season God has me in. So when my home was the logical choice for her to transition back on her own after spending six weeks in the hospital with several issues and at least three near-death experiences and another seven weeks in a rehabilitation facility, I had a hard time; I didn’t imagine my life caring for a 2, 4, 9 and 70 year old. I figured I was just too early for the sandwich generation. And I was mad that my mom’s lifestyle contributed to her illnesses and thought, “If she had only heeded her children’s warnings then maybe she would still be living on her own.” And then I thought about how my mom’s mantra had always been “I did it my way” and I would have a hard time being gracious in my home where I did things my way. But God reminded me that I am too focused on what my mom doesn’t do and what I do and this type of control, this type of self-righteousness, gets all of us recovering strong black women in trouble.
We get so mad when our loved ones don’t live according to God’s standards but we fail to look at the greatness of God’s mercy. We say we don’t understand how they can continue in their sin, but we fail to focus on how merciful God has been to them in their sin. We want to shout and curse at them for not getting their act together, but we should be shouting and praising God for His capacity to withhold judgment until they get their act together. Instead of consistently scolding our loved ones about sin perhaps we should be sharing God’s mercy with them, in our approach and in our content (Psalm 103:8-11; Proverbs 15:1). Perhaps the weight of His mercy will cause them to consider their state and surrender to God’s will. Maybe we should just have mercy.
Mercy is my special obligation to my mom; mercy is the special obligation for the Christian. When we have mercy we exhibit the epitome of God in a dark world that will one day experience His justice. Perhaps our mercy will lead them into the arms of God and away from His eventual wrath (Romans 2:1-16; Hebrews 10:31). Surely, we can deny ourselves, take up our cross of mercy and follow God in hopes that our loved ones will follow Him too. After all, our lives are about giving God glory.
What loved one do you need to show mercy to? How is God speaking to you through this word? Please, tell me what you think.