II Chronicles 7:3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever
Perhaps as a child you knew someone who was a grandfather or a grandmother. They weren’t yours, but they were that age. You just knew them as a nice elderly man or lady, but later on you found out who they actually were, what they meant to the rest of the world. Perhaps they had done something incredible, had great power, or great wealth in some way. Yet, you didn’t know that so you just took their kindness for granted. We sometimes say, “Familiarity breeds contempt,” but I would also say, “Ignorance breeds contempt.”
In II Chronicles 7, Solomon had just finished constructing the magnificent temple for God Jehovah. He had prayed to God, and then verse 1 says, “Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.” This is hard to comprehend. This verse gives us this magnificent picture, but we weren’t there. We have probably seen an artist’s depiction of what it may have been like, but that can sometimes make it seem like a fairy tale.
If right now fire came down from Heaven and consumed everything where you are, what would you do? Well, the Bible says in verse 3, “And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.” That is a sentiment that is repeated several more times in this account. They saw the power of God, the destructive potential of God’s power, and they responded by saying, “Wow! God is good and God is merciful.”
You are not going to see God’s goodness and mercy until you remember his holiness. If you just take God for granted, see Him like an elderly man who has always been kind to you and you don’t really know who he is or what that means, you are missing out. Do not take God’s gentleness for weakness. If someone is weak they cannot be gentle. They are just weak. They are dealing with you according to the power they have. If someone is powerful, then gentleness with you is a choice. They could destroy you, but they do not, not because they can’t, but because they won’t. They have a different heart. So, don’t miss out on God’s goodness and mercy.
A couple of things can cause us to miss God’s goodness and mercy. First, we can miss it because of comparison. When I compare myself to other people, I can think, “They have it nice. I do not. They got all the breaks. I did not.” The truth is that you cannot take social media at face value. You don’t really know what is in people’s lives. It is so easy to think that you have it bad and someone else has it good, but you don’t know. When I compare myself with other people, what I am missing in over-attention to them is under-attention to God and how good and merciful He is to me.
Pride can also cause us to miss God’s goodness and mercy. It is amazing how often we can look back at a week, month, or year and think, “I am good. Look at all the money I’ve made and things I’ve accomplished,” and we forget that the very breath I breathe has been given me by God. Pride ruins my recognition of God’s goodness and mercy to me because it makes me forget His power and His holiness.
Greed is a third thing that oftentimes makes me miss the power of God and by extension the mercy He has shown me. Many times I think, “I wish I had this thing or that thing. I wish I had accomplished thus and so,” and I forget the simple, everyday pleasures, the sun in the morning, the moon at night, a good cup of coffee, shoes that fit, friends that encourage me, or whatever it may be. It is so easy to miss out on the blessings I have when I am focused on the things that I want. Today, God is good and merciful and I know that because I realize that God is powerful and holy. You will not see the goodness and mercy of God until you remember His holiness.