Grace and Mercy

I have been out of town for the past few days. There’s something about a new grandbaby that will do that to a grandmother.

In my quiet time, I have had the opportunity to linger a bit. Yesterday morning, however, the Lord lead me to the book of Job. At first, I was like, no thank you, let’s go somewhere fun-Matthew, Isaiah, or John. But God said Job 40-42, so the pages turned to Job 40. When I got to Job 42, something caught my attention. How in all these years have I missed it?

We tend to focus on Job 42, where Job gets double back for everything he has lost, but what we don’t focus on or teach is how that happened. Was God gracious and kind? Absolutely! But Job, the one who was criticized by his friends, had to pray for them. Ouch! That must have been hard!!

Actually, I believe Job knew God to be sovereign and in control, so when the Lord asked Job to pray for his friends, he did just that…pray. God will make us do the same. The ones who hurt us, betrayed us, questioned us…

What if the Lord is wanting us to pray for relief from His wrath? The people who lied on us, betrayed us, do they really know what they are doing? No, I don’t believe so. It is often the Spirit behind them, but that is a lesson for a different day.

The prayer for relief is based on God’s grace and mercy. We ALL get His grace and mercy, so shouldn’t our enemies have the same.

I pray today you have a heart change. Pray for your enemies, for God’s grace and mercy. Pray for them to repent. Jesus is coming back soon. Be ready!

Lord, I pray today for Your guidance as we lean fully into You. Guide us to pray the prayers we don’t really want to. We often want justice, truth and vindicatation. But Lord, I ask today for You to forgive me of wanting You to handle the situation my way, and not Yours. I pray Father for repentance on their behalf, for Your grace and mercy to surround them. Draw them to You, for they know what they have done. I ask that You keep changing my heart to see others as You see them. In Jesus Name, Amen.

With grace and mercy and still under construction,

Veronica