He started by saying he had been dwelling a lot on the mercy of God. He knew he deserved to be incarcerated and didn’t deserve God’s mercy. Still, he wanted it.

Standing before a judge many years after his sentencing, he asked for mercy. You see, his crime was committed with a weapon and that added enhancements to his sentencing. His enhancements actually added more years to his time than what the original crime required. So, he asked the judge to consider that he is a changed man and not the same person he was when he went to prison. He begged for mercy. Although the judge seemed to be writing things down a lot as the incarcerated man pleaded his case, he still told him there would be no mercy given — that his sentencing would remain the same.

This tormented his mind as he went back to spend many days, dwelling on it in his cell. One day he accidentally hit the “release date” button on the computer inmates use to email. He had avoided that button for so long and didn’t intend to hit it. Still, he looked at what popped up on the screen.

The release date indicated he had 20 years taken off his time. He couldn’t believe it. So, a couple of days later, he got onto that computer and checked it again. Sure enough, it still showed 20 years off his time.

He talked to his classification counselor about it and was advised, “I don’t know what’s going on, but don’t tell anyone.” He couldn’t help but tell some. It was exciting.

His classification counselor checked on it the next time they spoke and saw it was still showing 20 years off the man’s time. The incarcerated man discarded all of his legal paperwork to request a resentencing. He began to get quite excited about his new release date.

Then, one day, those 20 years showed back up in the system. He asked about it and was told it was a mistake — that nothing had changed. He still had to serve all his time.

This threw him into a deep depression. “How could God get his hopes up like that, only to have them dashed?” What a crushing blow. Everyone in the room went on this rollercoaster ride of emotions, getting excited for this young man and then feeling crushed right along with him.

Then, he delivered a short and powerful message about being thankful for the mercy of God. He said his time in prison was God’s mercy and that it could have turned out much worse. He said he deserved much worse and has been shown mercy. He said, he’s thankful for that.

There he stood: a convicted felon, sharing his testimony. There I sat, convicted by his story. Too many times we want more mercy when we’ve been given so much. Too many times we are not thankful for the mercy we’ve been given because we’re too focused on wanting more.

May my documentation of this event serve to remind you to be thankful for God’s blessings and especially for His mercy in your life. None of us really want fairness. Who would dare raise their fist to God and demand, “Give me what I deserve?” No, we want mercy.

So, as you self-evaluate, dare to ask God, “Lord, have I shown you appreciation for the mercy You have shown me?” About the time you are bold enough to ask that question, He’ll reveal the answer.

I implore you to please be grateful for God’s mercy, lest He tire of granting you any more. (See Psalm 118)

•••

Pastor Jeff Adams is a longtime community leader, victim advocate, counselor and chaplain. He ministers internationally, nationally and locally. His column appears online periodically and he can be reached at jeffreydadams@hotmail.com.