The Lord Longs to be Gracious

So often I struggle with accepting God’s forgiveness in my life. While I have absolutely trusted in Him as my Savior and know that He died and rose again to wipe away my sins, I still have a difficult time actually grasping that redemption in my daily life.

On days when my failures are especially evident, I can become overwhelmed with feelings of unworthiness, and I am faced with the temptation of wanting to avoid God until I can somehow manage to fix myself (In case you were wondering, that has yet to work out).

But what a horrible injustice that is to the character of God! How can I look at my Creator – the One who never changes, who is the very essence of love, who went so far as to sacrifice Himself while I was dead in my sin – and decide that He isn’t big enough to forgive my deeper failures? He is not surprised by our flaws – while He cannot condone our sins, He loves us too much to let them get in the way of His building a relationship with us. If God designed a perfect way to bring us back into fellowship with Him, why should we feel as though that is not enough?

I have to remind myself that the act of forgiving is not something that He does begrudgingly – as Isaiah 30 says, “the Lord longs to be gracious” to us, and He “waits on high to have compassion” on us.

Is this truly possible? That God longs to be gracious us? That despite our sin, His desire is for us? In short, absolutely! And if we know that He feels this strongly for us, that He aches to love us, then we know that we can trust Him fully with the depth of our sin and struggles. We can be so secure in His love for us.

Related Scripture

Isaiah 30:18

“Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; how blessed are all those who long for Him.”

1 John 1:9

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Psalm 127:2

“…for He gives to His beloved even in His sleep”

Micah 7:18

“Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love.”

Daniel 9:18

“…we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion.”