mercy and grace

Mercy and grace. These are fairly common words that aptly describe what I always need but only occasionally recognize.

To receive mercy is to have what one truly deserves withheld. Grace, on the other hand, is the reception of blessings that one has not earned. To put it bluntly, I have earned God’s disfavor, and I have no claim on anything that is good. Or, it can be stated this way: my own stupidity and foolish choices–stupidity and foolishness that I display at varying levels each day–leave me in a place where I should be smacked and should never experience anything positive. Yet, goofy as I often am, mercy and grace meet me, even when I don’t notice it.

My hope is anchored to these words or rather to the realities they depict. I often act, live, and think like a spiritual imbecile, a rebellious fool, and somehow God refrains from casting me aside. Moreover, he actually showers blessings on me. Go figure!

“Lord, please enable me to see much more clearly how much you love me. I realize that I don’t get it. I admit that I am a rebel whose rebellion is all too common. Don’t abandon me though, Lord, and keep immersing my family and me in your goodness. Allow mercy and grace, those twin divine characteristics, those ever-needed divine responses, to propel me/us in a good direction. Mercy and grace, mercy and grace. I would be nothing without mercy and grace. Thank you.”