Chandra White-Cummings
Day 5: Mercy in the Midst of Judgment
First, an update on yesterday’s post about spiritual armor. God, in His mercy, used that topic and my post to somehow prepare me for what would happen very early this morning. At about 3:30 a.m. my oldest son had a seizure. My family’s post-seizure transition in times past has ranged from moderate trauma to near-panic. When my youngest son alerted me to what was happening, I ran into their room and began praying for his brother. I immediately called on the name of Jesus and asked the Lord to do battle for us in the spiritual realm. The seizure was a relatively short one, and my son is doing better. I know that having just been reminded of spiritual warfare principles helped me fight in prayer and more quickly recover emotionally. Praise God.
Today the 40 Days writer considers mercy and judgment. We Christians often have an uneasy and contradictory relationship with these concepts. Too often our mindset is, Judgment swift and sure for them, mercy lavish and unceasing for me.
I used to be very heavy on the judgment and too light on mercy. And when I see the suffering, fear, and anger of many people who’ve dealt with abortion, sometimes I want to flick on the judgment switch against the people who had a hand in their situation. But when I consider the rivers of mercy that have washed over me during times of doubt and wandering, I am compelled to hope that the same river flows for others. When I and a member of my prayer team pray at the abortion clinic, we pray for the salvation of the clinic workers, the women going inside, and the physician performing those abortions. When I talk with young teenage girls who are part of my mentoring program, I pray for the fathers who abused them and the mothers who didn’t act on their behalf. I still know which side I’m on, but my heart’s desire is for people to find God and live according to His truth. God takes care of judgment; I would just like to be a vessel of His mercy in the midst of that judgment.
Find out more at the 40 Days for Life website.