Mercy

Luke 17:8
    “But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’?”

    In my stories I often wrote about slavery and corrupt social classes. A slave master in those stories would only be considered cruel for punishing a slave unjustly and even that was almost a social norm. Slaves were treated as slaves.
    The scenario described here could have easily been the response of a good Christian master. The master would know his place and would expect obedience. A good slave who respects his master would just assume as he finished in the field that he would then need to serve his master dinner. It’s our equality culture that makes this sound horrible, not the scene itself. The master wouldn’t even have to command this because it would be normal for that culture.
    Now, I’m not saying our view of equality is wrong, because all men were created equal. But if you take your mind to a place where slaves really are lesser beings than their masters, then this makes sense.
    The slave understands that he is a lesser being and thanks his master simply for being just and not punishing him unfairly and for giving him food to eat at all.
    This relationship is unfair for human to human situations but we are lesser beings compared to God.
    How merciful that God is to love us as children and to desire to bless us despite repeated disobedience. If, in one of my stories, the slave was as disobedient to his master as I am to my God, the slave would not survive the beatings he would be given.
    I am amazed at His goodness when I see things in perspective. I am amazed simply by the fact that the was able to redeem the time I spent writing  on this subject, so that now I can clearly understand this scenario.
    God can truly redeem all mistakes in my life. He is the perfect craftsmen. He works the air pockets out of the clay without ruining the piece. He sees the broken polygons and knows already how to lay the rest out in perfect alignment yet with beauty so all will blend and not be broken. He can take an abstract thought and arrange then words the words with perfect connotation in a way that not only flows but conjures an image in the mind as well (something I seem to be struggling with just now).
    A more talented artist, the world will never know.
    I like to call myself an artist, but by the grace of God, I’ve never been good enough at any art form to call myself that realistically.

    Now when I watch the clay in my hands stumble and fall to utter ruin, I need to remember the hands which mold me. When I start to fall, He will support me even as I failed to support that clay.