The great heart of God is to turn us towards Himself in repentance. He desires that men turn from sin, and find mercy in the blood of Jesus. The hand He displays is often seen as severe, hard, difficult and angry; but His mercy and grace are ever present. We need to learn to look beyond the momentary pain and see the intention behind it; to see the Father chasing us to His mercy, pressing us to His grace, pursuing us to the foot of the cross where His love abounds and forgiveness is the promise. We are so myopic, so narrow in our focus that completely miss what God offers. He strips away the poisonous stuff that we cling to in this world, and holds out the pure and glorious life of His goodness. He does all that He does with the intent that we learn to know Him, learn to love Him, learn to follow Him. And all of this because HE is what is best for us, always!! To have the best, we must surrender the lesser, to know the truth, we must abandon our penchant for lies, to find forgiveness, we must forsake our sin, to possess life we must turn away from seeking death. Oh, beloved!! I beg you by the mercies of Christ, be reconciled to God! Beg Him to chase you to the cross! In that sweet surrender, you will cast off all the passing, worthless dross, and will gain instead, treasure you can never lose!!