Genesis 19:16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.

Sometimes God’s mercy might not seem very gentle. Lot obviously didn’t understand the seriousness of the situation, but the angels certainly did. They remind me of military commandos rescuing hostages, which is a scenario we have seen very recently. The thing is, hostages sometimes develop “Stockholm Syndrome,” empathizing with their captors and cooperating with them rather than with their rescuers. We see that in a spiritual context all too frequently. People can be in horrible bondage to sin, and to those actively submitted to the devil, and when they are presented with a clear path of escape, that is, the Gospel, they choose to reject it. Sometimes in His mercy God “forces their hand,” so to speak, much as He did with Lot and his family, but we can’t count on that. The point is to pray for, recognize, and thank God for His mercy. I know of cases where that mercy involved being caught by police, and even jail time. In that moment the individual was very upset, but later they were grateful, and recognized that God had indeed been very merciful to them. We can’t specify to God what His mercy will look like, but we can trust that it is part of His character, and so pray that His will be done.

I have commented many times that if God were not merciful, I would have been squashed like a bug a long time ago. However, like Paul, I can say that His grace and mercy have not been without effect. (1 Corinthians 15:10) That’s not anything to get puffed up over, however, because I have I have also shown myself to be more than capable of fruitless inactivity. The point is for me to remember God’s grace and mercy toward me and thus extend that toward those around me. Sometimes that might involve firm action, as it did with Lot, and I am not to shy away from that. I am to seek to accurately express God to people, whether it makes them like me or not. As much as possible, I am to take myself out of the equation and allow God to use me for His glory alone.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You indeed for Your grace and mercy toward me. May I not distort that in my interactions with others, but rather effectively draw them to repentance and faith, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!