WEDNESDAY

Micah 7:18

• When have you experienced God’s mercy?

Angie’s mom looked down at her, her big, red reading glasses making her eyes look like swollen, giant bug eyes. Everything was delicate at this moment—Angie had been caught sneaking M&M’s from the pantry for the third time that week, and Angie’s mom was about to punish her. Angie wondered which it would be—no playdates for a week? Maybe no TV? Or good, old-fashioned time out?

Angie had begged for mercy, promising up and down that she had finally learned her lesson and didn’t need a punishment. But Mom was, reasonably, unconvinced. In this particular instant, though, Angie could see her mom’s eyes shift. She saw her mom reconsidering—perhaps it was just general parental exhaustion that seemed to say inaudibly, is this really worth the fight?

This was when Angie saw her chance, and in that moment, she miraculously remembered Micah 7:18, which she recited out loud to her mom: “You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy.” Angie was shown mercy that day.

God is not rubbing hands together at the thought of our suffering, excited to see what punishment can be put together to really teach us a lesson. Instead, the Bible says that God is invigorated at the thought of being merciful. How does this change your understanding of God?