God is
compassionate and full of mercy. He is fair and just to all (sinners &
saints). He is fair to those who follow Christ and to those who do not. He
blesses the just & the unjust. God’s definition of fair is much different than
our understanding of the word. The bottom line is good and bad times happen to
everyone. Now my first thought when beginning to understand this was, “Well
God, what’s the point of obedience? Why should I go through all this trouble to
serve You when You bless the unjust as well?” The answer I received was, “We
are to serve God whole-heartedly. Not for profit or gain, but because He is
God. Because He loves us. Because it is the right thing to do. Because we are
not our own, we were bought with a price.” A very expensive price at that.
The Bible
says in Romans 2:11, that there is no partiality with God. This means that God doesn’t
just give good times to those who serve Him & bad times to those who don’t.
Time and chance happens to us all. A good example of this is the story of the man
at the pool of Bethesda. In John chapter 5, Jesus heals a man at this
particular pool. The Bible doesn’t indicate if the man was saved or believed in
Christ. In fact, it proves He didn’t know who Jesus was. In verse 6, Jesus asks
the man if he wants to be made well. In verse 7 the man responds, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred
up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” The man’s
response indicates: 1. He did not know who Jesus was because he called him “Sir”.
2. He never answered by saying yes, he just gave an excuse as to why he wasn’t healed.
It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are. When God decides it is your
time, then it’s your time. It was this man’s time for healing after 38 years of
illness. It didn’t matter to Jesus that the man did not know Him & or that
he did a bunch of works in the church. It didn’t matter to Jesus that the man didn’t
ask for healing. Jesus, being the compassionate and impartial God that He is
healed this man.
Sometimes I
wonder why God blesses one and not the other at a particular time. I found my
answer in Romans 9:14 that says, “For He says to Moses, I will have mercy on
whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” In other
words, God can do what He wants to do. Just because you pray, fast, serve in
the church and the person next to you is willfully living in sin, doesn’t guarantee
that God will answer your prayers first. He may answer the other person’s
prayer to show Himself gracious which can lead to that person’s repentance. Seems
unfair but God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are our ways His ways (Isaiah
55:8).
Grace is not
dependent on man’s work but on God’s mercy. Romans 9:16-18 says, “So then [God’s gift] is not a question of human will and human
effort, but of God’s mercy. [It depends not on one’s own willingness nor on his
strenuous exertion as in running a race, but on God’s having mercy on him.]
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, I have raised you up for
this very purpose of displaying My power in [dealing with] you, so that My name
may be proclaimed the whole world over. So then
He has mercy on whomever He wills (chooses) and He hardens (makes stubborn and
unyielding the heart of) whomever He wills.” Love that Amplified Bible…
In
no way am I excusing willful sin and disobedience. It’s wrong. We shouldn’t take Gods’ grace and
mercy for granted. We shouldn’t abuse His goodness because certainly God will
repay us all for what we have done, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).
We
don’t know what God is doing. However, His word says He is faithful and can be
trusted. I thank God for His grace & mercy. I would not have come this far if
He did not show compassion upon me. If God only blessed the “goody goodies”, most
of us would not stand a chance.
No comments:
Post a Comment