Mercy

For Christmas my dear husband purchased me a book.  It's our custom at Christmastime to exchange books with each other.  The book I'm speaking of is, "The Valley of Vision."  It's a collection of prayers and devotions written by a varied number of Puritans.  Saturday morning I was reading one of the prayers and I was stung by what I read.

"If  thy mercy make me poor and vile, blessed be thou!

Prayers arising from my needs are preparations for

future mercies;"

Can you imagine the conviction of my wickedness?  I've always pictured mercy as being spared from being poor.   I had never thought of God's mercy as being "poor and vile."  Of course that is His mercy.  His mercy is sickness and suffering.  His mercy is that we, his elect, won't go to hell.  We are in his fold.  Being in his fold is merciful.  I need to view all things as his mercy.  Because as his elect my life is an extension of his mercy.  All the good and all the bad.