Is There a Limit to God’s Mercy for a Sinner Like Me?
There are some days when I wonder whether God could be angry at me. Has He been disappointed at me for too long? Did I fail Him so many times that He could no longer find me redeemable?
Theoretically, I know that God’s mercy is beyond our gravest sins. But I can’t help but think about how much I let Him down.
He has given me so many blessings. He has revealed to me so much light. Why do I keep falling back into the shadows?
I can’t help but imagine the sadness of His face, the way He could be shaking His head in dismay. And my greatest fear is that He would turn away and leave me once and for all!
Perhaps this is the reason one of my earliest favorite songs was Stubborn Love by Kathy Troccoli. That song reminds that no matter how far I think I may have fallen, God is still there, pursuing me. It reminds me of the persistence of God’s love, of His stubborn love for us all.
Even if I consider myself to be that stubborn a sinner, could I ever be a match to the stubbornness of God’s love?
And then I read the Bible verses about the lost sheep, how the Good Shepherd would even leave the ninety-nine behind so He could search for that one lost sheep of His.
“What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.” - Matthew 18:12-13 (NRSVCE)
When Jesus told that parable, it didn’t sound as though the shepherd was just being forced to seek for the sheep. It didn’t sound as though He was hesitant or weary doing it. But He seeks for that sheep with all of His heart and His strength. He desires to find that sheep so much even if it meant leaving the ninety-nine others who didn’t need to be saved.
When Jesus searched for sinners to save them, He laid down even His life so we could be found.
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:6-8 (NRSVCE)
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.” - John 10:11-15 (NRSVCE)
In times when I fear God’s anger and doubt His mercy, may I be reminded of the Good Shepherd who stubbornly seeks for His lost sheep. May I believe that in God’s eyes, He has already claimed me as His, even during those times when I was still lost and in darkness.
Praised be the infinite and incomparable mercy of Jesus Christ!
“Jesus welcomes [all]. But not only does He welcome, He goes out to see people just as He went out to find this man. And if people are hurt, what does Jesus do? Scold them because they are hurt? No, He comes and He carries them on His shoulders.”
- Pope Francis
You may also want to read Jocelyn’s one year devotional, “366 Days of Compassion”.
