On mercy, compassion, & the Living Word

I love Jesus.  I love how He loves me.  I love how he often speaks so clearly to me that I cannot deny his voice.  Jesus is just oh.so.wonderful for the very reason that he chose to save me.  So unworthy and undeserving...but so thankful, indeed.  It never fails to amaze me how the Bible is proven to me as the Living Word of God.  Living!  Not old, ancient, or irrelevant to my woes and joys and life in 2012.  But, the very essence of what I need to not just survive, but thrive!  Here is my latest taste at the Lord's goodness...
On Sunday, my Dad (pastor of our church), preached on Psalms 4.  About how our security is found in the Lord alone because he is righteous.  The last part of verse 1 has been my rallying cry..."Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer."  Jesus and I have been talking about mercy lately.  And, you know, it's ok to ASK for it. 

On Tuesday, a cousin posted the following verse on facebook... "Therefore, the Lord longs to be merciful to you; he rises to show you compassion.  For the Lord is a just God.  Blessed are all who wait for him!" (Isaiah 30:18)  I blinked twice and read it again!  It was Him speaking directly to my heart.  In Scripture when the Lord rises he is getting ready to act.  And, for a few days I had been praying specifically for the Lord to show mercy in a specific area.  Here was my answer! I was giddy with excitement at how I would see the Lord's mercy and how he would rise to show me compassion!

I promptly committed to memorize the verse- repeating it all throughout the day.  While driving that afternoon, I was (again) talking with Jesus about these verses.  He was affirming to me the lessons shown to me.  Even the songs playing on our local Christian station were parrallel to the messages in the Scriptures!  I said out loud, "The rest you give me is the best!" (in reference to the last verse of Ps 4)  ...And my phone rang...

Our realtor called to let me know that the family that had seen our house for the second time chose to offer on another home.  While listening to her my mind was saying, "Lord, you have prepared me for this moment.  It could be crushing news, but it isn't.  You have better plans and I will wait for them."  Time in the Living Word and in prayer is EXACTLY what we need to make it through the roller coasters of life.  While my prayers were not answered how I would have liked them to be (a sell after 7 days on the market in this tough economy), I know in the core of my soul that His timing is never late and His ways are always (not most of the time) better than mine.  This security allowed me to keep an even tempered response to our realtor and to be hopeful in sharing the news with others.  Chris and I do not want to rush what the Lord is doing.  We trust His timing- because that is where we experience his mercy and his compassion.  And, we are blessed in waiting on Him!