This morning in my Bible reading in Psalm 119, I read about a custom God has.
And I thought about this picture Crystal sent a couple weeks ago when she had been hired to drive a van load of Amish from near Gregory, SD, about ten hours away to an Amish funeral in Wisconsin. In this photo she is waiting outside an Amish farmhouse, along with how many other vans or small busses, waiting for the meal to be over and the people to come back to the van to return to their place of abode for the night.
Amish have interesting customs that inspire respect, or at least curiosity.
So do every other culture on earth, such as Russia and Ukraine which are at war with each other--and possibly soon with America. There are Christmas customs, and other holiday customs. But this morning I read about a custom God has.
"Look upon me, and be merciful to me, as Your custom is toward those who love Your name." (Psalm 119:132)
As Jonathan and I prayed together, we spoke these words back to the Lord that He has given to us, "It is Your custom, Lord, to be merciful to us who love Your name.
Thank You!"
In the middle of a cancer journey, I can trust a God whose custom is mercy.
When I must stay home because of chemo side effects while my family heads to Rapid City for the SIM staff Christmas party and Crystal is off for a day of babysitting, I can be excited that I get to spend all day alone with a God Who is merciful!
My children can trust His mercy.
We can share that mercy with others, even ones who don't deserve it, like people who may or may not spend wisely the money they earn working for Building Hope Enterprises under SIM. Or someone who just lost a significant other yesterday after many years of living together outside the parameters that God intended. We can still carry a dish of food, drop in, and reach out--extending the best we can an emblem of the mercy of God reaching out to anyone who will respond with humility.
Mercy isn't about deserving it.
It's about the beautiful heart of God.
He cannot countenance sin, and no one who chooses to love their sin rather than love God will obtain eternal mercy.
"Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me," the very next verse in Psalm 119 says.
This is the prayer we pray as we reach out to ones around us who have shut themselves away from the heart of God.
"Let their sin no longer have dominion, but You, Lord, become Lord of their lives."
May God's merciful Spirit hover over empty and miserable homes and hearts on our reservations this Christmas season,
because of God's custom--MERCY.
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