God: Merciful

God: Merciful

God Knows What's Best!
In Greek mythology, Aurora, the goddess of the dawn, fell in love with Tithonus, a mortal youth. Zeus, the king of the gods, gave her the privilege of choosing a gift for her mortal lover. Aurora asked that Tithonus live forever; however, she forgot to ask that Tithonus remain forever young; consequently, Tithonus grew progressively older; in fact, he could never die. The gift became a curse.
The God of the Bible is not like a mythological god. He never forgets anything that is not considered before He answers our prayers. He does not grant us a request which ultimately will become a burden. He is never a deceiver. Therefore, we must accept His answers as the best for us.

God Makes No Mistakes
Oppressed by the noonday heat, a tired farmer sat under a walnut tree to rest. Relaxing, he looked at his pumpkin vines and said to himself, "How strange it is that God puts such big heavy pumpkins on a frail vine that has so little strength it has to trail on the ground!" And then looking up into the cool branches of the tree above him, he added, "How strange it is that God puts small walnuts on such a big tree with branches so strong they could hold a man!"
Just then a breeze dislodged a walnut from the tree. The tired farmer wondered no more, as he rubbed his head ruefully and said, "It is a good thing there wasn't a pumpkin up there instead of a walnut."
Hopefully, when the breezes of life blow, you will remember that God, Who is great and wise, makes no mistakes. He deserves our praise under any circumstance. The Just God
A certain man misappropriated a sum of money, never believing that his good Christian friend would take steps to have him punished for embezzlement. Now that he is in jail he knows he depended too much on the kindness and mercy of this Christian, instead of reckoning with his justice. There is great danger in misunderstanding God's essential character. He is a God of justice as well as of love. He will inflict punishment where punishment is due. There is mercy available through Jesus Christ, but that mercy becomes effective only to those who appropriate it, who accept it. Be Merciful
J. H. Evans said, "I believe that God often permits me to be chastened by my sin, because I do not make use of my mercies." We often lose our mercies by loving them too well, as the ball of snow is melted by the heat of the hand that holds it, or a rose is spoiled by pressing it too tightly. Theophilus Gale very well said, "Whatsoever I thankfully receive, as a token of God's love to me, I part with contentedly as a token of my love to Him."

Peaches or Pumpkins
The members of the Ladies' Society had all been complaining that the dry season would ruin the crops. But there was one lady who was not complaining. They asked her if the drought had not hurt her fruit or garden. She said, "Yes, but I'll tell you what cured me of worrying. I used to fret over everything, and one spring when I sat down to have a good cry because an untimely frost during peach blossoming threatened to ruin our splendid prospect for fruit, my Aunt Martha came in and reminded me that she had lived eighty years, and the world's crop of provisions had never failed yet. 'If we don't have peaches, we'll have punkins,' said she. And I have noticed since then that, in spite of all the frosts and droughts, I've never suffered from lack of food, and I don't believe you have, either." They all smiled rather sheepishly, and the president said thoughtfully, "That's true. 'Peaches or punkins.' I'll try to remember that." We, too, should try to remember that everything continues to exist because of God's providential care in spite of us and our sinfulness.