“…He does not treat us as our sins deserve…” Psalm 103:10
God’s mercy is not getting what we deserve – the rightful punishment for our sins. But God’s mercy goes even further.
We also deserve to be left alone in our pride and temptations, only to fall headlong into sin and reaping the consequences.
But again, God does not give us what we deserve. Instead, He is a heavenly Father whose eyes and thoughts are constantly on us. He lovingly woos us to the cross, and then once we are His children, He continues to mature us through the discipline of pain and heartache and suffering. He knows the precise timing for opened and closed doors. He knows just how much to allow, and when to hold back. He knows how to teach our hearts not to wander, and how to shape us into the image of His Son.
Not only is the absence of punishment His mercy, so is His discipline.
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11
Grace and Peace,
