When you seek, you will find. When you knock, the door will be opened unto you. Ask, and you will receive. When Jesus made those promises, he meant it and I believe them to be true. Yet, I know of many who looked for an experience with God and walked away empty handed, disappointed and actually quite wounded. Is it possible they were looking for an earthquake and missed a quiet tremble? Were they listening for a loud, roaring voice while tuning out His whisper?
Just this morning, I heard the whisper while taking little Frankie Lee (our little white fluffy dog) out for a walk. Little droplets of water were still clinging to blades of grass, just yesterday dry and brittle, now replenished, soft and pliable. I realized how, after weeks of hot weather and drought, just a few drops of precious rain could bring life back into the earth. I saw clearly how absolutely powerless we are on our own and that the earth can have its way with us despite our technological advances.
I felt the quiet tremble when I concluded that the little drops of water are more than H2O molecules falling from the sky. They are mercy. I marveled at the crystal clear reality that just a few drops of mercy can not only restore life, but splash beautiful color back into the world around us.
I know that for many of you who hunger and thirst for God, this quiet whisper and soft tremble were not what you were seeking. Maybe you wanted something more pronounced and exciting like a tingling sensation or a flash of lightning. My guess is those things happen all around us, but without first drinking from His cup of mercy, we would miss God if he walked into our living room and took us for a chariot ride through the clouds. If he went roaring by like a freight train or dropped an anvil on our head we would ignore the supernatural, find a natural explanation for it and forget about it the next day.
Hear the still, small voice that whispers, “Mercy.” Mercy means we are not on our own. It is what God desires for us and from us. Without it, we will become dry and brittle and just as we will die without the precious drops of rain, we will die without mercy. We should drink from the fountain of mercy every day and never deny our neighbors a full cup.
