Showing Mercy is a Test

We often ask for the Lord to have mercy on us, but do we show mercy? Our prayer’s are probably not as beautiful as David’s below, but I’m sure there are some similarities.

In psalms 6:1-2 King David asks the Lord not to get upset with him and not to discipline him in anger. He specifically asks for the Lord's compassion because he is weak.

I seriously believe that life is a series of tests. We are tested almost every minute of the day. Think about it. Have you seen a commercial lately?

Well, this morning the fire alarm in my townhouse went off. It is the loudest and most irritating noise that you could possibly imagine.

The night before I stayed up late working on a project from school which I still haven’t finished yet , when in the middle of my sleep, my little three year old daughter decided to use our bed as a trampoline.

She knows that the rule in our house is no jumping on the bed and no jumping on the couch. Well, I guess she thought that I was a sleep and started jumping to the moon on the bed while I was still in it. With a scowl on my face I angrily told her to “stop jumping on the bed”.

As a parent you know what enough is and what overkill is. I showed little or no mercy to my young daughter.

Well, later I called home from school and apologized to her. I didn’t need to scowl or raise my voice to get my point across. If I had shown mercy, she would have stopped.

We constantly ask for God’s mercy in our life, but do we show God’s mercy to others in our life. We cannot expect to receive God’s mercy unless we are showing it. With the Lord’s help we can be loving people even though we don’t feel like it sometimes. This is one of many tests of real faith.