Some days I feel like I imagine my daffodils felt this morning (if they were sentient beings): immersed in a shocking surprise of cold, covered with something they didn't really anticipate. But the truth is, Spring storms come every year, and the freezing temperature is something daffodils should be accustomed to. And I, by this time in life, should be accustomed to finding myself immersed and covered over by unpleasant surprises in this world.

One of the most amazing and astounding things that covers me, however, is not unpleasant at all. Indeed, it is the most lovely and remarkable of all things: the love of God to someone like me (the chief of sinners, if I may borrow Paul's self-epithet). God's mercy for me is whelming-- it sweeps over me, carries me with its power, and I am borne about by it. His love for me makes me buoyant in this heavy world, which would drag me down in its undercurrent of self-pity and pride. I am left an undeserving recipient of a grace so great I cannot comprehend it.

“Suffering for enemies speaks louder than suffering for friends. God would be no less loving had he died for good people, but when he went to the cross for the wicked, for his enemies, for those deserving wrath not love, his goodness erupted with infinite beauty. The sinfulness and unworthiness of those for whom he died revealed the depth of his awesome love….Our sin does not make the love of God greater. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. It is perfect and always will be. However, humanity’s sin enhances our power to discern a love that would otherwise be hidden from us.”

~William Farley, Outrageous Mercy