MERCY

In our GROW group this week, we read Psalm 123. The writer talks about looking to God as a servant looks to his master. Other masters, it seems, are contemptuous, proud, and oppressive. But when this psalmist looks to God, he finds…mercy.

Mercy.

Yesterday, Pastor Chris took us to Lamentations and invited us to reflect on God as a merciful Father. Another passage of Scripture that brings together these truths of God’s character – His mercy and His fatherly love – is Psalm 103:

8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful,  slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. 10 He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. 11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. 12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. 13 The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.14 For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.

Ps 103:8-14

Like Ps 123, this psalm invites me to look to God. And when my eyes land on Him, they find…mercy.

As our GROW group started chatting a bit about God’s mercy the other night, we found our way to Romans 12:1-2. You probably know the verses. Offer your bodies as living sacrifices…don’t conform to this world…be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

One of the guys in our group drew our attention to a little phrase in these verses. Honestly, it was like I was reading them for the first time. I mean, I know I’ve read them before, but I’m not sure I’ve ever really heard them. All of this chat from Paul about service and worship and sacrifice and transformation…and where does it all start?

In view of God’s mercy (Rom 12:1).

God’s mercy changes everything.

DEPTH

Last week was a big week for our family. Penelope, our three year old daughter, got glasses. Adorable, right?! (Minus the bit about not being able to see, of course).

Pen was a champ. It was a big deal for her – and her parents! (And her sister, who’s having a hard time learning we don’t always get two of everything!) We picked up her glasses, had them fitted, and then started to make our way out of the doctor’s office.

Pen, apparently, has a pretty significant astigmatism. When the eye doctors first picked up on it, they told us glasses would be a pretty big adjustment for her, something about her cognitive processes and her brain taking some time to put it all together.

Well, as we were leaving, this happened. You can see the struggle as she tries to adjust to seeing differently. And in case you missed it, she says, “It’s deep when I wear these.” These glasses are rocking her depth perception.

This passage in Psalm 103 – for me, it’s a bit like Pen and those glasses. It’s like seeing clearly for the first time. It’s a perspective that changes everything. It rocks my depth perception.

His mercy is deep – and I’m not used to that. I’m used to contempt and pride and oppression. Sin is a terrible master. Works and law are relentless drivers. But God? He is compassionate, unfailing in His love, merciful. Like a father to his children.

In view of God’s mercy.

Take some time today. Sit with Psalm 103, put on those glasses, and reflect on God’s mercy in your life.

Ziggy Stardust

You would have to be living under a rock to have missed the news of David Bowie’s death a few weeks ago. In case you were under a rock, Bowie (also known as Ziggy Stardust), the equally eclectic and eccentric rock and roll star passed away after a battle with cancer.

Reading about Bowie’s career reminded me of the collaboration he did with the band Queen – Under Pressure. While the song was famous in it’s own right, it spiked again in the 90’s when Vanilla Ice sampled the famous bass line in his song, Ice Ice Baby.

But enough about rappers turned Amish house-flippers…back to weird, English rock stars.

Under Pressure is about the weight on people, and what that pressure causes in society:

Pressure pushing down on me
Pressing down on you no man ask for
Under pressure – that building burns down, splits a family in two
Puts people on the streets…

Pressure

The song is right. Pressure on our lives can destroy them. The pressure comes from all over – job, love, finance, lack of self confidence, school – and it presses down, down, down. What do we do with this pressure?

If we listen to the song, we give love a chance. Sounds good in a song, but it doesn’t work out so cleanly in real life. What’s the answer? What do we do with the constant pressure in our lives?

In the book of James, we’re to consider it a gift. James calls it trials, tests or challenges, and he says pressure defines our faith. Pressure exposes our faith to the world. Best of all, pressure matures us.

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.  -James 1:2

Mature and Well-Developed

This week we want to GROW UP. We do that by jumping into community, listening to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and now welcoming the pressure of trials which come our way. It’s not fun, but it creates us into the people God wants us to be.

So next time you encounter a trial or face a challenge or come under pressure, hum that famous bass line – ding-ding-ding diddle ing-ding – smile and know you are becoming well-developed in the eyes of God. Your character is being formed. You are growing up.