God’s Mercy at Work

<p>My anger percolated when a woman mistreated, blamed, and gossiped about me. I wanted everyone to know what she&rsquo;d done&mdash;wanted her to suffer as I&rsquo;d suffered because of her behavior. I steamed with resentment until a headache pierced my temples. But as I began praying for my pain to go away, the Holy Spirit convicted me. How could I plot revenge while begging God for relief? If I believed the Lord would care for me, why wouldn&rsquo;t I trust Him to handle this situation? Knowing that people who are hurting often hurt other people, I asked God to help me forgive the woman and work toward reconciliation.</p> <p>The psalmist David understood the difficulty of trusting God while enduring unfair treatment. Though David did his best to be a loving servant, King Saul succumbed to jealousy and wanted to murder him (1 Samuel 24:1-2). David suffered while God worked things out and prepared him to take the throne, but still he chose to honor God instead of seeking revenge (vv. 3-7). He did his part to reconcile with Saul and left the results in God&rsquo;s hands (vv. 8-22)</p> <p>When it feels like people get away with wrongdoing, we struggle with the injustice. But with God&rsquo;s mercy at work on our hearts and the hearts of others, we can forgive as He&rsquo;s forgiven us and receive the blessings He&rsquo;s prepared for us.</p>