Learning to be blessed/mercy--2

Matthew 5:7 (King James Version) "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."
As I went over the last session on "Mercy", I realized we needed to consider the "other side of the coin" and recognize a common misuse of mercy. I never thought of the common sin of justifying worry as a misuse of mercy until the Holy Spirit began to show me how easy it is for this in our nature. It is called self-justification and is the other side of mercy. We will apply mercy to our own self when we will deny it to others.

The first response of the adamic nature was to give excuses to God for disobeying His (at that time) only covenant condition. Giving an excuse is so natural to us we don't even realize we are doing so most of the time. Listen carefully to yourself and to others. You will find that you recognize an excuse in someone else almost immediately and, most of the time, realize how frail is their excuse. For instance, if you tell someone not to worry about a certain thing, there will be an instant excuse for the necessity of that worry. I was told once, "If I don't, who will?" A good excuse for worry? Probably not, but I realized it was a powerful reason to that person for worry.

Seeing criticism as a result of not showing mercy, I began to see worry as a criticism of God. When God becomes small in our sight, we have to be big enough to control the situation. How better to exert control than to worry! Surely our worry can bring the change we desire! A family member becomes sick or is in danger. We fear the worst possible thing that can happen and begin to worry. We pray and worry that God won't answer our prayer. A covenant response is impossible when we have set in motion the process of turning away from the only possible solution.

Jesus addressed worry about a very common care. Matthew 6:31-32 (NLT) “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs." Now to make this personal, do you worry about this or do you know that God cares about this detail in your life? Worry is so common, we do not realize we worry. When confronted about worry, a person told me, "But my grandfather was a worrier and my father was so that is just who I am." That is the other side of mercy -- self-justification.

We justify our self when we compare ourselves to someone doing what we would not do. Jesus gave the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-12. We can also justify our self when we use our inadequacy as an excuse. Moses used stuttering, Gideon used his tribe, Jeremiah used his childhood. But God is not limited by any limitation we have. If we consider mankind in the light of Eternal God, what do we have but limitation? I began to consider the Scriptural references to limitation, excuses, and self-justification and decided I would have to copy most of the Bible in this blog and I don't have the space or time. Just know you are not alone nor are you the first to have worry, give excuses or justify yourself. But that does not justify any of us. We still are required to give a Covenant response. Trust, obedience, and love will open the door to all God's power in our behalf. Never forget, God cares for you. His mercy is everlasting!