Daily PresenceSample

I grew up in Georgia near a town called Peachtree City. It was known as a “golf cart” town and golf cart paths ran throughout the city – over a 100 miles of paved pathways. One day, my friend Matt and I were chasing a couple of other friends through a neighborhood in a game of “golf cart tag”. At one point, the other duo took a sharp turn to avoid us and whipped off down the road. Matt and I needed to pull into a driveway in order to turn around. Yet, as we backed out, we smashed the mailbox. Our initial reaction was that of any other teenager – run. We immediately took off down the road, but our friends saw what happened and convinced us to turn around and admit our crime.

As we walked up to the door, I was terrified. For one, this was a fairly nice neighborhood. I knew the mailbox wouldn’t be cheap to fix. Two, initially we had tried to escape rather than immediately admit our wrong. Third, I was the one driving at the time of the accident. All of these fears spun through my mind as I saw a figure approaching through the decorative glass of the front door. A man opened the door and asked in a British accent, “What’s up, boys?” “We ran over your mailbox.” I replied in the most pathetic voice I could muster. We walked down to the end of the driveway and as the man surveyed the damage he said, “Well, at least you went for it!” and chuckled. I was shocked. I was expecting screaming, anger, and threats to call the police. Instead, we were met with grace, humor, and understanding. Yes, we still paid for the mailbox and I wrote the man and his family an apology letter. However, I felt like I got off easy.

In our reading, God threatens the use of His sword – His wrath – against His people. He goes on to threaten the destruction of the Ammonites. This is truly a terrifying chapter in our spiritual history. Yet, praise God he is merciful. Praise God his love overrides His justified anger towards His people – us. I deserved a harsher punishment. The Isrelites deserved a harsher punishment. We deserve a harsher punishment. Yet, God is merciful. His grace is as powerful as His might. His love is greater than our sin.