Mercy (part 2 of 2)

Peace. How the world longs for peace, but we invariably shoot ourselves in the foot and derail the process. How many wars are currently being waged? I couldn’t get a straight answer out of Google, but it is a bunch.

Interestingly enough, while the Bible talks about world peace, it speaks more often about an internal peace that is available to us even in the midst of war, whether that war is on foreign soil or at home in the kitchen. What is also interesting is that this peace follows our Heavenly Father’s mercy.

To summarize, out of His grace God acts mercifully and the result in our lives is peace.

Jeremiah declares that God’s lovingkindness, i.e. His mercies, are new every morning without cessation (Lam. 3:22-23). In mercy, our Father meets our needs and cares for us without compromising His resources in the slightest.

Why does He do this? The logic is that He bound Himself to this pledge of mercy with a covenantal oath. But why did He do that? Mercy can be noted and described, but the logic behind it is mysterious.

I find myself praying for God’s peace. I think the message is clear: If God acts in mercy, which He does, then I have peace. If this is so, the reason I pray for peace can only mean I don’t understand or recognize the peace Father has brought to me.

Peace is not the same as tranquility. Tranquility is the “peace” you hope for when the family gets together at the holidays. Peace is confidence. It is knowing that your Heavenly Father has everything under control. It is recognizing that He will take care of your every need, as He sees fit, and do so without compromise.

Too often we evaluate God’s peace by taking inventory of the stress level we are experiencing and the circumstances surrounding us. It won’t work. His peace is not that petty or shortsighted.

Our Father is working toward and for eternity in our lives, and given this process, He knew we needed an eternal peace right now. So He supplied it. It is an outgrowth of his grace and mercy.

If you are in Christ you are the recipient of God’s grace, and if you have received His grace, you also bask in the absolute, character-driven predictability of His mercy. But as if that were not enough, out of His mercy comes His peace.

Out of God’s rationale for grace comes the irrationality of His abundant mercy. As the recipients of His grace and mercy we are in possession of His peace.

With these understandings, I can rest regardless.