THE GLORIOUS DAT IT RAINED

It had been misting all morning. It didn’t seem like the kind of happy-rain that makes you feel cozy to be inside. It was the grey, achy kind that penetrates the bones. Or was it? Could it be that my pressured morning had interpreted the rain as problematic rather than a gentleness with the power to sooth? I will choose this moment to re-label it. Like Shakespear’s Merchant of Venus, I choose to think of today’s misty rain as mercy falling from heaven. The quality of mercy is not strained, It falleth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blessed; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

We jump to many conclusions and even attempt to self-interpret attributes of God. We ask for God’s mercy but, unlike Shakespear’s understanding hundreds of years ago, we don’t really want it to be twice blessed, falling around us and splashing out on others around us. We are one of two kinds of believers: we either embrace the thought of mercy for others but refuse to accept God’s blessing for ourselves since, knowing us as we do, we believe we are unworthy. Or, we pray for mercy for ourselves but begrudge evidence that another is blessed, since we judge them as unworthy. Let us accept all of the blessings God has for us, including mercy, with no qualifiers attached. Every time it rains, let us lift our eyes to Heaven and praise God for all His mercies. Then, bathe in that mercy like a fresh baptism and the achy rain will be transformed into a blessing. Let us pray:

“Loving Father, God, how precious is your name and amazing are your mercies. Holy is your name and yet we use it to curse others. Forgive us for our worldly ways. We pray that your kingdom may come quickly in a place where every knee will bow and every tongue will confess your glory. Today, we pray for mercy, Father. We have offended you and have harmed others. For this we are deeply sorry and ask for your forgiveness and mercy. We also lift up the one who we love the least and ask that you love them more, for they are your children as well. Remove all pain from their lives and heal them with your mercy. Let them have a measure of the mercy you offer to us, for we know your love has no bounds. And for these blessings we say, Hallelujah in the highest, may peace and mercy be finally recognized on this earth. For these blessings we give you all praise and glory, Father. In the precious name of Jesus, your son, we pray. Amen”
Doris
Copyright 2010 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”