God’s Mercy

“You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.” 

Matthew 18:32

God is the same today as He was yesterday. In the Old Testament there are several accounts where God’s favored people were punished for their sins. God allowed their captivity or defeat, and even in modern times, the Jews were victims of the Holocaust. Is it because He wanted to bring them low? Is it because He did not want to forgive them? 

“For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation, brought low everywhere in the world this day because of our sins,” Azariah acknowledged when the Israelites became captives of the Babylonians. And he asked with a contrite and humble heart for God’s forgiveness for his people. We need to do the same. 

We are indeed brought low by this virus. Even if the cases are declining, there is no guarantee that it will not come back. Meanwhile we are dealing with the impact of the pandemic on the Philippines, lack of jobs, and the decline of our economy to its lowest level since World War II. We do not even begin to realize what the confinement did to our children’s mental health and well being. 

Are we able to look at this time, this strange and terrible season, with eyes of faith, and see the extraordinary gift God is giving us? This may be a time of purification, renewal, a strengthening of our faith. We needed to stay home, that is true. But we also  had more time to pray, read the Bible and other books, be with family, clean and organize and find things to give away, indulge in our hobbies, find ways to connect with people in new ways, etc. Did we make use of the time and opportunity, just as this season of Lent is also a time to ponder, to connect to God, and see where we have failed Him? 

God is calling us back to Him. We are His favorites as well, just like the Israelites. “The Lord disciplines those he loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son." (Hebrews 12:6) Let us look for the ways we have disappointed Him and ask forgiveness. Perhaps there is some unforgiveness in our heart we need to root out. Perhaps there is envy, or condemnation, or perhaps we like to gossip. We need to bring it out to light and ask God’s mercy for our sins. And God is merciful and will blot out our transgressions FOR HIS OWN SAKE; and He will not remember our sins. (Isaiah 43:25)