I’m so glad God isn’t like the City Council.

I got a speeding ticket. I was doing 35 in a 25 hour zone. It was an empty street, a fence on one side and a field on the other. It was also $116 dollars to pay for my fault of driving too fast. It’s wasn’t the first ticket I’d had in this city, but strangely enough, I haven’t had a ticket anywhere else in years.

I could pay the fine, get a point reduction, and let it be over with. But surely an understanding judge would take into account the situation and reduce my fine or my points. Surely an understanding judge would care that the company my husband works for has crashed and we don’t have an income right now. It would be better to go and plead for mercy.

Maybe the judge would have had mercy . . . But the city council didn’t.

“I’m sorry. My parameters are set by the city council. I have no authority to reduce fines or points.”

“I wouldn’t have come to court if I understood the process.”

“I know.”

I saw the sympathy in his eyes. He asked if we needed some extra time to pay the fine–and the additional $45 in court costs.

I drove home thinking how I’m so glad God isn’t like the city council. The city council wants me to pay dearly for every little infraction of their rules. They don’t offer forgiveness or mercy. In fact, they don’t even want to see me. They have their “justice” carried out by others, being sure I pay to fund their city, locking any gracious heart behind their rules so that no mercy can be offered. In that city, they offer no grace. It wouldn’t be to their advantage.

Why does God think it is to His? Does He love me so much that He’s willing to pay the price, offering mercy and justice, just so we can be together? He didn’t even pay my fines with cash or check as the city required. He paid it with blood.

I’ve finally begun to see God’s heart of mercy. I’m learning to run to Him when I fail and truly believe He offers me mercy when I blow it. It makes me want to do His will without constantly living in fear of my failures.

I’ve not gotten quite that far with the little City of the Merciless Council. I tried to run to it today and found it harsh and unbending. After dealing with it, I’m just trying to get over my fear of the pizza man. After all, from a distance it looks like lights on the top of his car. It could be the officers of the City of the Merciless Council, stalking me, just waiting for me to mess up.