God of Comfort

We love grace - that we have received what we do not deserve, but we rarely talk about mercy - that we have not received what we deserve. 

And yet, mercy is one of the most beautiful characteristics of God's heart and love toward us. 

It's nice to be surprised by grace, to get that unexpected gift, to wonder what you did to deserve such a thing (hint: nothing). It's nice to be thought of without knowing someone thought of you, of being considered and simply being known well enough to be given something wonderful to you. We all love a little grace; it makes us smile. 

But mercy...mercy lets us breathe again. 

Mercy is waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for someone to find out what you did, waiting to get called to the principal's or the boss's office. It's knowing you've messed up and hoping the price isn't too high. It's regretting your mistakes, but knowing you can't run from them. It's being the bad guy and knowing you're the bad guy and wondering what it's going to do to your life to realize - and for everyone else to realize, especially for God to realize - that you're actually not all that good all the time. Maybe you're not even all that good most of the time. And you've just been found out. 

You wait, holding your breath, twiddling your fingers, looking around from side to side, closing your eyes, praying silently, looking around again and then mercy says...mercy says you're free to go. 

Today, you're not getting what you deserve. 

All of a sudden, your lungs fill with air and your eyes fill with tears and this tremendous weight is taken off of you and you kind of almost collapse a little, sinking into the soreness of muscles that have been held too tight too long. You feel the release, and it feels like rest, and it feels like maybe you can get comfortable again after all...but better this time, of course. (We always say we're going to do better...until the next time we realize we're totally messed up and broken still.) 

But that's what God wants you to feel - that comfort. That reassurance. That ability to breathe again. 

Look at the way that Paul greets the church in Corinth when he writes what we know as his second letter to them - 

"God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort" (1:3). 

Paul's not talking about two separate things here, as though he were trying to describe two distinct characteristics of God. No, Paul is talking about one thing - a merciful God who comforts us. His mercy is the comfort. Not getting what we deserve is a comfort to us. 

Grace is an encouragement, but mercy is a comfort. You're known and you're still loved, unconditionally.

Phew.