Extending mercy when it's challenging

Well, the Fourth of July has come and gone. On that day, we celebrate a line drawn in the sand by courageous men. With their signatures they said, "No more!" to King George and his attempt to control them from afar with unfair taxes and military might.

There are times to say no more to the people in our lives who have been overpowering us--or trying to--when we realize what they are doing to us by their actions. God does not expect us to be bullied or abused--and I speak from experience here.

If you have pain in your past, you may be ultra-sensitive to others intruding onto your rights or your personhood. Understandable. But don't swing the other direction and end up angry and bitter. Don't go from beaten-down to saber-tooth tiger.

Balance is the hardest achievement for any human being. Look at the course of history, always in a state of flux: swinging from one extreme to the other, no matter who the leader is.

The one thing we all want, however, when we have strayed, is mercy. From the people we have wronged, from God, from the government.

When others have wronged us, we want justice. What do we hear from the youngest child? "It's not FAIR!" It wasn't fair for Jesus to die for the wrong things I've done, but he didn't bat an eyelash. He just did it.

How do I react, then, I who have received God's mercy, when the lab results worked on so diligently on a recent NATIONAL HOLIDAY with my lab partner (who shall remain nameless), when these results were hijacked by this partner? When this partner has decided to work on another academic subject, and keep them in her distant computer when the lab report is due in 20 hours, and I am missing crucial information, and am thus unable to complete my report?

I'm sure all of you have something similar in your lives. Someone you counted on has let you down. You worked hard, trusted them. You'll have to work with them again. But, guess what. People fail. They make bad decisions. God alone is faithful.

God alone is faithful. Every day. Praise his name.

The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, "The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!"

The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord."

Lamentations 3:22-26

P.S. My lab partner came through at 4:00 this afternoon (thinking she had sent it at 1:30--but not remembering to attach the file), after many pleading phone calls and emails. The phone turned out to be in the pocket of her jacket, left in her coat where she had been on the 4th of July...

OF COURSE I received the information in time. But I agitated, fretted, and caused both of us needless concern due to my uncertaintly and distrust of when she would get it to me. (I need to re-read some of the posts on this blog before I dare write another.)

Bottom line: I'm not always quietly waiting for my salvation, my partner's going to let me down sometimes according to my timing, but the LORD is faithful all the time.