8 Yea, thou art merciful unto thy children
when they cry unto thee, to be heard of thee and not of men, and thou wilt
hear them.
9 Yea, O God, thou hast been merciful unto
me, and heard my cries in the midst of thy congregations.
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I love this scripture today, especially because of
the words “thou hast been merciful unto me, and heard my cries.”
What strikes me is that it doesn’t say, “God made
everything easy for me.” It says He heard my cries. There is
something very personal about that. It suggests a God who is not distant from
our suffering, but who hears us in the middle of it.
And there is another beautiful word here: “merciful.”
Mercy is not just about forgiving our mistakes. It can also mean that God meets
us with compassion when we are hurting, weak, tired, or simply unable to carry
everything ourselves.
Emotional suffering can soften us and make us more
compassionate toward other people. Sometimes we don't understand why we have
had to walk through certain things, but later we recognize that those
experiences changed the way we see people.
It's like a little prayer thanking Heavenly Father for
hearing me, even the thoughts and feelings of my heart that I can't
express. I have learned that there are cries we speak out loud and others
that are deep inside us, where words don't always come easily. Yet the Lord
hears them all. He knows the things I carry, the things I miss, the things I
worry about, and the things I am still trying to understand.
He is merciful. He Hears Me!
I also love that the verse says “in the midst” of the
congregation. Not after the struggle. Not once everything is settled. In the
midst.
I think Alma is reminding me that I don't have to wait until
everything is okay before I turn to God. He hears me in the midst of it.
And when I look back, I can see that His mercy has been there more times than I
realized while I was going through it.
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