The Relief God’s Mercy Brings

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loves us so much, that even though we were
dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It
is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
Ephesians 2:4–5

Years ago, my sister Luci asked me a question that I’d never been asked before: “What is your favorite feeling?” Ever thought about that? My answer to her was, “I believe my favorite feeling is the feeling of accomplishment.” (Sounds like a driven person’s answer, doesn’t it?) I like the feeling of getting something done. “Finished” is one of my favorite words.

When I asked her to answer the same question, she said, “My favorite feeling is relief.”

I thought that was a great answer. In fact, better than mine! When I checked Webster’s later, I found that the feeling of relief means “the removal or lightening of something oppressive, painful, or distressing.”

• When we are in physical pain, relief means that the pain subsides.
• When we are emotionally distraught, relief calms us and gives us a sense of satisfaction.
• When guilt assaults us in transgression and we seek God’s forgiveness, the guilt that ate like a cancer inside us goes away as God brings relief.
• When a relationship is strained, perhaps with someone we were once close to, we do not feel relief until we have worked through the painful process of making things right with that person.
• When we are burdened by heavy financial debt, getting that paid off brings the sweet release of relief.

We know that the sovereign Most High God is ruler over our lives. So it’s obvious that if we ever have the feeling of relief, God has given it to us. He’s the author of relief. He is the one who grants us the peace, the satisfaction, the ease. In fact, I think relief is a wonderful synonym for mercy. Mercy is God’s active compassion which He demonstrates to the miserable. When we are in a time of deep distress and God activates His compassion to bring about relief, we’ve experienced mercy.

Mercy. It isn’t passive pity. It isn’t simply understanding. It isn’t mere sorrow. It is a divine action on our behalf through which He brings about a sense of relief. God, our compassionate and caring heavenly Father, is the author of relief. And when it comes to those mysterious, confusing times when doing His will results in the unexpected, there’s nothing like mercy to make it bearable.