Have you ever been in trouble?  What did you want, but out of the trouble, and quickly.  And so it is with anyone. Peace and tranquility should be our “default” condition, however, the devil stirs trouble against everyone, for he is an equal opportunity troublemaker. That means he desires to ruin your day just as much as mine.  Often, we can find our own way out of things that trouble us, but sometimes not.  Sometimes we need HELP, and we need it now.  Where does help come from?

Well, we can look to family and friends, but what if it’s beyond what they are willing or able to help us with, then what?  We have the options of going back and trying to fix the problem ourselves, or we can call upon God.  But wait a minute, will God help?

Picture the person that has the mentality “If it’s going to happen, I have to do it myself.” Are any of you like that?  Back in the old days before Christ Jesus was my Lord and Savior, if there was a problem, I did whatever was necessary to fix it myself, and  was never one to ask for help from anyone, period.  But in 1993 something happened so big that even I couldn’t fix it: liver cancer and melanomas. My life had not been real pretty and there were lots of hard times that came my way. Not that ANY of them were ever my fault, mind you….Hello?  Yeah, many of them WERE my fault, like your troubles.  But this time I did something out of character for me, I got on my knees and asked God for mercy.

Like many of you, I went to church every weekend doing God a favor by bringing my presence into His house. But other than that once a week, it was my way or the highway.  Why would God show mercy to someone like me? I never really made any time for Him, so He didn’t owe me any favors to, say the least.  When the doctors said I would be dead in less than a month, reality set in.  I needed mercy, the kind only God could give. Now I was good at helping others, because having grown up fending for myself, I had a natural tendency to try to help the underdog.  But my understanding of RECEIVING mercy was very limited at that time, especially the God kind of mercy.

That weekend at church following my cancer diagnosis I asked God for mercy while in the back of my mind was the “Why should He do ANYTHING for me?” question, which the LORD quickly answered.  Immediately He referred me to Psalm 103:2-3 which says, “Bless the LORD, o my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.” Now THAT’S MERCY!!

Please notice that I didn’t spend any time trying to talk God out of showing me mercy, yet many do!  They try to find every excuse not to take God at His Word, and therefore, they cut themselves off from receiving His mercy. If there was one thing I knew for sure, it was that it is impossible for God to lie, so from that very moment I thanked God for forgiving my sins AND healing me. Yes, if you’re going to believe God, you might as well go for the whole deal.

As the LORD started revealing His mercy to me, I was shocked to find that He is not the God which had been taught to me at all.  He is rich in mercy and quick to forgive our trespasses.  Until now, this article had been about the big three, “Me, Myself, and I”.  Some of you are about the same “big three”, but maybe you won’t admit it.  However, the day will come when you will need God’s mercy.  Let me assure you, His mercy will be there for you.  If God was ever going to refuse mercy to anyone, it would have been to me, because I didn’t deserve even the tiniest of God’s mercies, yet He freely gave me mercy.  Why??  BECAUSE I ASKED!

People send thousands of prayer requests to my website, and I pray for each one individually, asking God’s mercy for them.  Do they all receive God’s mercy?  Yes, God gives it, but some won’t receive it for one reason or another.  Have you ever tried to give something to someone that won’t take it?  I remember the time a person told me they couldn’t pay their rent for lack of a hundred dollars.  Out came my wallet and a hundred dollar bill jumped out of it into my hand and I said, “Here, pay your rent.” That person said, “I can’t take your money, I don’t even know you.” I said “That makes us even, I don’t know you either, but here’s a hundred dollars, go pay your rent.” You know what? They wouldn’t take it.  Why not?  Who knows? Pride maybe. Pride keeps us from receiving from God. We don’t want to look “needy”, and sometimes we will literally starve rather than show ourselves in need to God or anyone.  Been there, done that.

The point is, God wanted to use me to help that person pay their rent, and they were so swelled up with pride, that even God Himself couldn’t reach them.  Do yourself a favor: lose the pride.  Others believe they’re not worthy of God’s blessings because of something they’ve done in the past.  There’s no excuse for that one either, for God is quick to forgive if we just ask Him.  Therefore, lose the “unworthy me” attitude.  God Himself chose to make you worthy because of the sacrifice Christ Jesus willingly made for you on the cross.

I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but it’s no longer about YOU.  It’s about GOD and His mercy.  He chooses of His own free will to show us mercy, even though we don’t deserve it in the least.  It is because of HIS goodness that He desires to bless us, not our goodness.  It doesn’t matter if you go to church twelve times a week and pray fifty hours a week, any blessings you receive are because of GOD’S MERCY, not your own works.  We are saved by grace, not works.  However….when God’s mercy impacts your life like it did mine, your whole life will change in a big way.  You will start taking on the characteristics of God and you will find yourself showing others mercy just like God shows YOU mercy.  And that’s the way it should be.

If you’re sick, why not call upon God to show you mercy.  That’s how I pray for the sick.  If you’re willing to RECEIVE God’s mercy, healing comes.  If it doesn’t come, examine your heart as to WHY you are unwilling to receive God’s mercy, and deal with it.  I heard something in my spirit early this morning that woke me up. “Deal with small problems before they become major catastrophes.” Now I know why He told me that.  Deal with the issues why you won’t believe God for His mercy NOW, before you get yourself into a life-threatening situation.  That way, when real trouble comes your way, you can cry out to God, MERCY MERCY! ! , and it will be right there for you.    Remember, it is written in Psalm 34:17-19;

Psa 34:17  The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
Psa 34:18  The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Psa 34:19  Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

Someone is going to receive God’s mercy today, right now, for the troubles they are in. And the LORD wants it be YOU!