Angels of Mercy - Martin Wiles

And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. Hebrews 13:16 NLT

We sat on the porch and watched the angels of mercy come, one after the other.

My wife and I were visiting a shut-in couple from our church when the angels of mercy arrived. As we enjoyed the cool fall weather, I watched the front door of the house across the road open. A lady with a covered tray walked out and across the street. She strolled up the couple’s front steps and told them she had made them supper. As she named off the southern meats and vegetables under the foil, the husband’s mouth watered. She took the meal inside, placed it on their table, made a few minutes of small talk, and then left. 

A few more minutes of conversation passed when a neighbor on the left walked over with a plastic bag and said, “Thank you, Papa, for watching my kids.” 

“You’re welcome, honey,” he said. 

I wondered how he had cared for her kids, since he could hardly care for himself or his wife. His eyes lit up as he looked inside and discovered six packs of bologna—one of his favorite meats to fry and make a sandwich from. 

“Thank you, Lord,” he whispered, tears dotting his eyes as his neighbor walked away. 

Both angels were from different races and cultures—one an African American and the other Hispanic. But it mattered not to this couple living in a neighborhood that had changed drastically since they purchased their home fifty years before. God has sent his angels, and they were thankful.

Like most people, I sometimes focus more on my own needs than on others’. I want God to send his angels in the form of others to help me, but I forget he wants to send me as an angel of mercy as well. But putting my eyes and hands on others relieves the emotional intensity of the hardships I might be facing and reminds me that I don’t have to look far to find people in more dire straits than I am. 

Opportunities to be used as God’s angel of mercy abound. Being one requires living with intentionality, desire, love, and openness to the opportunities God places all around us. 

Ask God to send you angelic opportunities. 

Father, thank you for the privilege of serving as your hands and feet in this world. 

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How Not to Be a Miserable Comforter - Martin Wiles

I have heard all this before. What miserable comforters you are! Job 16:2 NLT

When others share their painful situations, I’m sometimes a miserable comforter. Whether I ask them or not, I wonder what gruesome sin they have committed that has resulted in their dire straits. Or worse yet, I’ve uttered some infamous statements: “I know how you feel,” or “Let me know if you need anything.” Then I walk off, end the text, or tap the end button on my smartphone, never to check on them again. 

Job’s situation was almost beyond description. He lost roughly everything he had. The comfort his friends gave consisted of “You have sinned against God. You need to confess.” Job’s wife told him to curse God and die. In the midst of excruciating circumstances, Job received a large dose of miserable comfort.

If we want to avoid being miserable comforters, we must show understanding. Perhaps the person we’re comforting has sinned and is suffering the consequences. Remembering that we’re not above sin enables us to provide proper comfort. Since no one is perfect, no one is beyond any particular sinful act. Often, as in Job’s case, the painful situation is through no fault of the sufferer. Suffering can merely be a consequence of living in a fallen world.

Good comforters listen. Miserable comforters do all the talking. Those passing through troubled waters may need to vent. We should let them without judging. Venting can be a part of the healing process.

Miserable comforters don’t pray with the person who is hurting. Good comforters do. Not prayers of pomposity but sincere prayers for the person who is suffering that God would grant them comfort, wisdom, and guidance.

Good comforters aren’t afraid to cry with the one who is suffering. Shedding tears with them is one way to help them carry their burden.

Miserable comforters use clichés and religious platitudes; good comforters avoid them. The one suffering doesn’t need to hear, “Time heals all wounds,” “I know how you feel,” or “God just needed another angel in heaven.” Clichés and holier-than-thou attitudes—even when given sincerely—won’t help the one who needs comfort.

And when the timing is right, sharing comfort from God’s Word is always appropriate. Job’s friends tried this, but their interpretations were wrong.

Think of steps you can take to avoid being a miserable comforter.

Father, help me share with others the type of comfort You give me when I am hurting.

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Mercy Shown - Martin Wiles

God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7 NLT

When my wife yelled, “Come here!” I knew something was wrong. 

I was napping in my recliner on a Sunday afternoon when she called for help. Since I was only twenty feet from her, I asked, “Can’t you just tell me what you want?”

But knowing who butters my bread, I went. She stared at a stack of Christmas decorations we had recently purchased at an estate auction. “Do you see these little things on this bag? Are they spider eggs?” I told her I supposed so, but if I sprayed them, they would be covered in poison. 

“I’ll just spray them with Febreeze,” she said. Soon, I heard another plea for help. When she sprayed, what looked like eggs immediately transformed into baby spiders. I quickly retrieved the Dust Buster, sucked them up, and emptied the contents in the yard. We were trying to show mercy—and preserve what we planned to sell--but it wasn’t easy. All we could imagine was these critters crawling on us at night and biting us. 

According to Jesus, we’ll be happy when we show mercy to others, and God will bless us in return. He didn’t say it would be easy, just that we’d be happy. Showing mercy to the spiders was challenging. Exterminating them would have been much easier. Showing mercy to spiders might seem insignificant—and a bit crazy--but the principle remains. It isn’t easy to show mercy to some people or in some circumstances. 

We can show mercy in numerous ways. While we must be careful of our motives when we demonstrate mercy to others, our obligation remains—and God gives us the ability to do it. 

When we think of the mercy God has shown by allowing his Son to die for humanity’s sins and the many ways he has shown us mercy when we didn’t deserve it, we can’t find excuses for not showing mercy to others—regardless of who they are or what they’ve done. 

When you’re tempted to withhold mercy for what might appear a good reason, remember God’s mercy.

Father, we praise You for the mercy that flows through us daily. Help us channel it to others.

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Undeserved Mercy - Martin Wiles

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Ephesians 1:2 NLT

I was the recipient of grace . . . undeserved mercy.

“I made God a promise I’d help the next person I knew whom he had called into ministry.” He spoke the words and then handed me an envelope. I was following God’s call, which, in this case, meant leaving my job and moving somewhere I’d never been. And without any promise of work or income. Having a family to care for made the decision more difficult. When I got home, I tore into the envelope. A check for $1,000 fell out.

Paul’s life before Christ had no peace, only religious zeal. Christians were different, and he was out to destroy as many as he could. He may have appeared happy and satisfied, but he wasn’t. Christ met him while he was on one of his escapades and offered him grace. He accepted, and for the first time in his life, he experienced peace.

Christ offered me grace for the first time when I was nine. I jumped at the offer. He’s provided grace daily since then, but the first time was the most monumental. This offer involved the chance to have my sins forgiven and the penalty for them erased. Accepting the offer restored me to a right relationship with God.

When grace came, peace followed. Now I didn’t have to worry anymore about my present or future state. In the present, I had the assurance of his presence in my life to give me guidance in every circumstance. I also had the peace of knowing heaven was in my future.

Later in Paul’s life, God told him his grace would always be sufficient. And it was. It carried him through numerous unpleasant situations. God’s grace does the same for us. 

When we lean on God in life’s trying situations, we find his grace to be sufficient and calming.

Let God’s grace assure you of forgiveness and give you peace amid life’s trials and tests.

Prayer: Father, we thank You for extending the grace of Your forgiveness and then giving us peace that is beyond our comprehension. 

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On Call - Martin Wiles

Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Luke 6:36 NKJV

I wondered why I could do a task and stop while my wife kept moving from one task to another.

That was before I attended a seminar entitled Brain-Based Gender Differences in Boys & Girls, Men & Women. I learned fifteen percent more blood flows in the female brain than in the male brain. When a boy listens, he normally listens with only one side of his brain. In women, blood typically flows in both hemispheres of the brain. Not so with boys and men.

The male can “zone out” and enter an “empty box” where they can actually think about nothing. A wife may not understand a man saying “Nothing” when she asks him what he’s thinking about, but he actually can. Women have a difficult time thinking about nothing. Their brains work constantly with constant activity between both spheres. We might say the female brain is always on call. Not so with men and boys.

Somewhat like having a job where the employee is on call 24/7. I’ve had a few of those jobs. Nowhere I went was I off duty. Ever. I worked—or at least had the potential to work—365 days a year, and with no extra compensation. I prefer set hours where I can enjoy downtime. I suppose that’s because I am a man and don’t want my brain—or body—to work continually.

But two things I should always be on call for are mercy and love. Jesus said when I do I follow the example of the heavenly Father who demonstrates love and mercy. God the Father showed these qualities when He sent His Son to pay our sin debt. He continues to show them daily to His children—and even as a by-product to those who aren’t.

As God’s representative—and the recipient of His love and mercy—I’m to show the same to others. God’s mercy never runs out and ours for others shouldn’t either. Evil destroys our world in many different ways, so the need to show mercy will linger until God creates the new heaven and the new earth.

As the female brain is continuously on call, so our efforts to find ways to demonstrate mercy should be also. God wants us to channel what He has deposited in our hearts.

Ask God to send you daily opportunities to be on call to show mercy to others.

Prayer: Father, may we always be on call to show love and mercy to others.

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Grasping Grace - Martin Wiles

For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17 NLT

My brush with legalism came early in life.

Society wasn’t the only group trying to push their legalistic rules down my throat. Fellow church members and my parents joined in the effort. I didn’t have an issue with the rules found in the Bible. My issue was with the human manufactured ones.

Rules such as women shouldn’t wear pants. I couldn’t find that one in the Bible. The closest I could come was that a woman shouldn’t dress as a man. Or the rules that said a woman shouldn’t have short hair or wear jewelry or makeup. Dad’s favorite was that a man shouldn’t have long hair. Since I was coming of age during the hippie movement, this one affected me.

Rock music was off limits—even though the country music most of the Christians I knew listened to had lyrics far more graphic than the rock music. Lyrics about drinking, using drugs, sleeping around.

Such harsh views colored my view of God. He was a judgmental deity who sat in heaven waiting for me to mess up so He could, in turn, mess up my life. And if He didn’t respond quickly enough, Dad would be glad to step in for Him.

Legalism was around in the first century too. Though God had pronounced all food acceptable, some still proposed certain things shouldn’t be eaten and that Old Testament laws made null and void by Christ’s death should still be obeyed. Paul disagreed.

When I finally understood God’s grace, I realized grace had saved me—not my good works (Ephesians 2:8-10). The added rules weren’t in the Bible but were just people’s interpretations of certain passages. Or the verses had been taken out of context or the context completely ignored. Reading the gospels cleared matters up. No amount of rule obeying—God made or manmade—would save me. Only God’s grace could.

Rules implanted fear in me; grace removed the fear. Since I wasn’t accepted based on my obedience, I wouldn’t stay in God’s good graces by my obedience. Not that obedience wasn’t important. God’s complete forgiveness of my sins kept me safe in His care.

Straightening out a proper view of God and His grace ushered in victorious living—even though it took me numerous years to grasp this concept. Legalism zaps the joy from life. Grace infuses life with happiness and peace. Try grasping grace.

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Prayer: Father, thank You for the grace You’ve shown us in Jesus Christ. Help us grasp the full import of what Your grace means. 

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Coming Back for More - Martin Wiles

Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. John 5:3 NLT

Once through the line wasn’t enough.

We called her Aunt T. She was my maternal grandfather’s sister—and a strange one. All I remember about her is her repeated trips through food lines.

When there was dinner on the grounds at the little church my grandparents attended, Aunt T showed up. She slowly made her way down the food line, carefully piling food on her plate. She would wrap the plate and place it in her car trunk. Then she’d return for a second trip and repeat her previous actions.

My cousin and I stood at a distance, laughing at her. I wondered what made her keep coming back for more. Was she poor? Did she not have food at her house? Was she a miser? Or was she just plain crazy?

Jesus encountered a group of people who kept returning for more at the pool of Bethesda. Tradition said an angel stirred the waters. The first in would be healed of any physical malady they had. One man had been coming for thirty-eight years, but his condition prevented him from getting in first. Jesus didn’t help him into the pool; He merely healed him.

I love coming back for more of God’s mercy—which never ends. Mercy is His undeserved favor. I don’t deserve anything from Him, but He gives me grace and mercy by the bucketful. He can’t help it. Doing so is parcel to His nature.

The easy thing about receiving God’s mercy is that He’s more than willing to give it when I ask—and sometimes when I don’t. He’s not stingy. He is a giving God and wants me to be a channel of His mercy. As I come back for more from Him, I want others to come back for more from me.

Yet, I shouldn’t take God’s mercy for granted. He’s not obligated to distribute it to me. I can’t earn it; I must accept it freely. God simply wants my love and obedience in return. Regardless of how discouraged I might be, His mercy is always available to lift my spirits.

When in a relationship with God, there is always hope. Life has a habit of throwing things our way that have the potential of getting us down. But don’t let them get you down. 

Keep going back for more of God’s mercy and grace. He has an endless supply.

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Prayer: Father, thank You for allowing us to keep coming back to You for everything we need. 

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Mercy Shown - Martin Wiles

God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7 NLT

When my wife yelled, “Come here!” I knew something was wrong. 

I was napping in my recliner on a Sunday afternoon when her plea for help came. Since I was only 20 feet from her, I asked, “Can’t you just tell me what you want?”

Knowing which side of my bread was buttered, I went. She was staring at a stack of Christmas decoration we had recently purchased at an estate auction. “Do you see these little things on this bag? Are they spider eggs?” I told her I supposed so, but if I sprayed them, her ornaments would be covered in poison. 

“I’ll just spray them with Febreeze,” she said. Soon I heard another plea for help. When she sprayed, what looked like eggs immediately transformed into baby spiders. I quickly retrieved the Dust Buster, sucked them up, and emptied the contents in the yard. We were trying to show mercy—and preserve our sale of goods, but it was difficult. All we could imagine was these critters crawling on us at night and biting us. 

According to Jesus, I’ll be happy when I show mercy to others, and I’ll be blessed by God in return. He didn’t say it would be easy…just that I’d be happy and blessed. Showing mercy to the spiders was challenging. Exterminating them would have been much easier. Showing mercy to spiders might seem insignificant—and a bit crazy, but the principle remains. It’s very difficult to show mercy to some people and in some circumstances. 

The ways I can show mercy are numerous. While I have to be careful of my motives when I demonstrate mercy to others, my obligation to do so remains—and God gives me the ability to do it. When I think of the mercy God has shown by allowing His Son to die for humanity’s sins, and when I think of the many ways He has shown me mercy when I didn’t deserve it, I can’t find any excuse for not giving it to others—regardless of who they are or what they’ve done to me or society as a whole. 

When you’re tempted to withhold mercy for what might appear a good reason, remember God’s mercy to you.

Prayer: Father, we praise You for the mercy that flows our way each day. Enable us to channel it to others. 

Mercy Roller knows her name is a lie: there has never been any mercy in her young life. Raised by a twisted and abusive father who called himself the Pastor, she was abandoned by the church community that should have stood together to protect her from his evil. Click here to order. 

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