Text: 1 Kings 17:10-12 (KJV)
So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
MESSAGE
No one deserves mercy. There is nothing a man does that puts God under compulsion to be merciful to him. He is under no obligation to show mercy. God cannot be induced or coarse into showing mercy. Psalm 115:3 says,
But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
Psalm 115:3
One truth that we must familiarize ourselves with is the fact that He will show mercy to whom He will and have compassion on whom He will.
Do we then become negligent in not asking for mercy? No, it is the reason why we should cry out the more for His mercy. God has given us the privilege to ask anything from Him.
Ask and it shall be given you. (Matthew 7:7). The Bible further went on to instruct us to ask for specifics – for example in James 1:5, we were told to ask wisdom from God who gives liberally and never upbraids for asking. By application, we can ask God for mercy and believe in His faithfulness to show us mercy.
God decides who to have mercy on, consider the word of Jesus in Luke 4:25-26 in connection to our text this morning; though there were many widows in Israel, Elijah was sent to none but this widow of Zarephath, but was she the only widow in her city? I don’t think so. The woman simply received mercy. May God show you His great mercy today in Jesus’ Name.
From our previous lesson, we established that only mercy can put a man in the right place at the right time for his blessing.
The woman in the text of today was neither early nor late – a minute earlier or later could have meant a whole lot of difference in this story. There was a great famine in the land, she was a widow with a son, they had the last meal and was going to eat and die. But mercy stepped in and death was cancelled. May the mercy of God cancel death over your life and family in Jesus’ Name.
When death came later to claim her son, the mercy stepped in and overturned the situation. May you receive mercy in Jesus Name.
In today’s confused world, so many are battling depression and suicidal thoughts, they have come to the point where they cannot go forward again, they are tired of life, they have done everything they can do to get out of debt, to have their broken marriages fixed, to recover from a recurring illness, and so many troubles of life, but I say to you don’t quit, ask for mercy and He will come right for you.
Knowing that only God can have mercy should thrill our hearts because He is good and His mercy endures forever – He is always willing to show mercy. His goodness is everlasting and His compassion towards us does not fail. We can be sure that when we come to Him as we are, He will accept us for His mercy’ sake
Are you still not sure of your salvation? Have you not been to the cross to receive mercy? Wait no longer, He is able and willing to show mercy unto as many that shall call upon His Name. Let all the saints cry for mercy – you cannot have enough of it.
REFLECTION
For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Romans 9:15
Think deeply about your life and why God has done all He has done for you over the years. You will quickly discover that everything was because of His mercy.
May God bless you and make you His object of mercy today. Amen.
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