To receive mercy can be both a life changing and life-giving moment. Mercy is best recognised in a person’s most desperate and broken times. The deeper the hurt, the sweeter the mercy we receive.
Merriam-Webster defines Mercy this way:
• compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one’s power
• a blessing that is an act of divine favour or compassion
• compassionate treatment of those in distress
Mercy is all these things. However, we best understand mercy as a blessing that has it’s origin in the heart and mind of God. We see mercy right through the Scriptures:  From the Lord clothing Adam and Eve in the garden (Genesis 3:21) to the Lord’s forgiveness of the criminal who dies alongside him on the cross (Luke 23:43) and more.
Those broken times that people experience are often life at a cross road. Mercy received in that moment can change the pathway of a person’s life: from darkness to light; from death to life; from hopeless to hope filled; from useless to useful; from slavery to freedom.  We can picture ourselves there with the psalmist crying out to God when we are hurt, lost and broken: Have mercy on me, my God. And He does! Hallelujah!
Think of the times you have received mercy from the Lord and other people and the difference it has made. Consider how your acts of mercy might change to life of a lost person.