Lord, Have Mercy!

Many of us have either said or heard the phrase, "Lord, have mercy!" We may even recognize it as part of one of the simplest prayers we can utter, "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!"

The phrase "Lord, have mercy!" is also used to express great shock, awe or fear, especially in response to something unexpected.

When the weather forecasters predicted a string of 100+ degree days earlier this summer, many of us cried, "Lord, have mercy!" as we sweated our way through the unseasonable onslaught of heat.

When Washington, DC and surrounding areas experienced an unusual earthquake, some of us thought, "Lord, have mercy! An earthquake? Here?"

When Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene threatened to devastate almost the entire east coast of the US and Canada, we looked at the size, power and scope of the storm and exclaimed, "Lord, have mercy!"

Well, considering the low death toll of all of three of these natural threats combined, it appears that the Lord, indeed, had mercy on us.  But, do we really understand and appreciate His mercy?

Untold numbers of people earnestly prayed and sought the Lord's intervention in each of these crises, so why is it that when He stretched forth His mighty hand to answer our cries, we instead began to "cry foul" because we were expecting more devastation than we received?

Did we really want the east coast quake to rough us up?  Did we really want Irene to devastate more lives and property?  Remember, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.  Also, God controls the winds and the waves. So when, as one newscaster stated, "something seemed to hold the storm back," why aren't we shouting praises and glory as loud as we would have been wailing and shouting, "why me?" if we had fully experienced all that Irene was clearly capable of doing?

"Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water."  Revelation 14:7

The dry summer heatwave and Hurricane Irene eerily parallel parts of Amos 4:7-8 which reads, "I also withheld rain from you, when [there were] still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city...Yet you have not returned to Me, says the LORD."

Instead of "humbling ourselves and turning from our wicked ways" some of us saw the hurricane as an opportunity to get drunk and engage in other behaviors that continually deny the fact that we've been "bought with a price" and are to "present our bodies as a living sacrifice...."

O LORD, [are] not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, But they have not grieved; You have consumed them, But they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to return.  Jeremiah 5:3

Let's not have such hardened hearts and hard heads that it takes severe devastation before we stop mocking God for holding back His fury and finally start giving Him the glory due His name.

In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.  Revelation 11:13

I don't know about you, but I would much rather give God the glory now by how I use my body, mind and time than to be brought to my knees trembling because I didn't take God's Word seriously and heed the gentle reminders. 

I don't know the day or the hour, but one day God will stop issuing warning tickets, and unleash the real sting of the real thing.  The good thing is, when we accept God's gracious gift of salvation, made available through the blood of Jesus Christ, we won't have to experience the real sting, which is eternal separation from God. 

If we think life here on earth is hell sometimes, try trading the temporary pleasures of this life for being separated from God for eternity.  THAT'S enough to make you say, "Lord, have mercy!"

BNcouraged!

Rev. Karen