Mercy Coming from Justice

Readings:
I Chronicles 22
Acts 13:1-12

Focus:
Acts 13:11a: "Look now, the hand of the Lord strikes: you shall be blind...."

It occurred to me when I was reading this passage that Paul was not merely inflicting a punishment on the sorceror Elymas when he called down blindness upon him. Blindness was what afflicted Paul himself when God encountered him and turned him towards himself. If Paul's action towards Elymas was the first step in leading Elymas to a saving relationship with God, then it was not only justice, it was mercy.

Sometimes it's hard to see how a difficult circumstance can be God's action leading us towards something good for us. But when we look back later, we see that, indeed, it was! God works in amazing ways.