Have Mercy On Me!

“To prepare for next week’s teaching, I want all of you to ask yourself three questions. Number one: What is mercy? Number two: Does the Lord show mercy? And How? Number three: When have I shown mercy? We will have an open discussion, so be prepare to share your answers,” Art explained,” Okay, folks. You’re dismissed. I’ll be expecting some prepared answers next week!” The chapel was empty, but as Dallas walked toward his truck his mind was full.

Beep! “Hey, Alana! It’s Dallas. Just wanted to talk about Art’s questions from Sunday. I’m having a little trouble figuring them out. Call back whenever. Bye,” Dallas said into the phone. Ugh! Ever since Art had asked the questions, Dallas had been having trouble trying to grasp their answers. He had a small understanding of mercy, but was still confuse of exactly what it was, which cause all the other questions to be even more confusing. Dallas walked from his bed to his computer and type into the search bar: God’s mercy. Millions of results popped up which caused Dallas to groan. This was going to take a while. He walked over to his bed and fell asleep in seconds.

Beep! “Hey, Dallas! It’s Alana. Sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner. I was at my parent’s house all day yesterday. I was having trouble too with Art’s question. Call me back. I think we should meet up to discuss them. After all two heads is better than one. Bye!” Alana’s voice chattered. Dallas yawned and slowly emerged from his bed. He grabbed his phone and dialed Alana’s number. “Hey, Alana. Wanna meet up at that coffee place from last time?” he asked. “Sure. How about in ten minutes?” she replied.

“Okay give me your example of mercy, since mine is so horrible,” Alana retorted. “It’s not horrible, Alana. It’s just they aren’t good enough, to explain on Sunday. We need something special. I don’t want us both to look like fools!” Dallas insisted. “Any idea is a good idea, Dallas. And I think mine is good enough to share with the church, if you don’t mention anything better!” she explained. “Oh! I have an idea. What if we….”

“Hello, church!” Alana exclaimed. “Hello!” they responded. “Today, Dallas and I will be sharing what we together learned about mercy. Come up here, Dallas!” she said proudly. Everybody clapped for Dallas as he confidently strolled to the pulpit. “Hello, everyone! Okay, I'll do question one, Alana will do question two, and we will both answer question three separately. Go ahead, Alana.” Dallas proudly announced. “Question number one: What is mercy? We looked it up on Google, and discovered that it means: compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm*. We also asked each other what we define mercy as. Alana said mercy was grace to forgive without punishment. I said what I cried out as a child about to get a whooping,” Dallas joked. The whole congregation cracked up. “Question number two: Does the Lord show mercy? And How? Yes, the Lord show mercy every minute of every day. For example, he showed mercy when he sent Son to died on the cross, instead of everyone of us. He shows mercy when we constantly sin and expect God to forgive us, because we are “saved”,” Alana taught. “Question number three: When have I shown mercy? I have shown mercy, whenever I’m condemned for giving my life to Christ. Instead of asking God to curse those people, I pray for blessings on their lives, and a light to show them to the good news,” Dallas explained with a smile. “I show mercy whenever people hurt me emotionally, and expect me to hurt them in return. I also pray for blessings on their lives, and a light to show them to the good news, too. To end we would like to share a scripture. Matthew 6:7 says,’ Blessed are merciful...’ she started. “...For they shall receive mercy. Thank-you, guys, and I hope you learned something new about mercy,” Dallas closed. The whole chapel was erupted with the sounds of clapping.

Being merciful is hard, but worth it. The Lord wants his children to show mercy, as he has shown mercy to use. Remember Matthew 6:7. So show mercy without holding back!

*Actually creds to Google

When the Lord shows mercy, he also gives second chances. You should too! Here is a video to encourage y'all: