Mercy - compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm. (leniency, compassion, grace, charity, forgiveness).
Over and over they extended mercy - even when the gift fell, unappreciated, at their feet. The time came when wisdom and necessity overruled, when it was time to let the consequences of their actions have its way.
It wasn't an easy decision - having tasted mercy themselves and known the unfathomable value of the gift. Hard to watch as a measure of suffering took its toll. Hard to check the impulse to step in and help yet again, knowing it would only make matters worse.
So now they wait - for the necessary work to be done. And they pray that in the midst of the struggle the Potter will use what seems a breaking apart to mold and mend and make whole.
As they pray, they cannot help but look back - at the times when it seemed mercy was withheld from them. When they walked through difficult circumstances of their own and, often enough, not of their own making. When they couldn't understand why heaven seemed to turn a deaf ear to their cries.
Could it be, they wondered, that He was doing just as He promised? Could it be He was working all things together for their good - even when the process hurt? Could it be that there are times He steps back a bit and lets us experience the natural consequences of our choices?
Never leaving or forsaking - always loving.
Blessings,
Linda
