One night years ago, my daughter had her most brilliant bedtime stalling idea ever: She started complimenting me from head to toe. When she mentioned my hands and the beautiful wedding ring with the fake diamond in it, I stopped her. “That’s not a fake diamond, honey,” I said. “It’s real.” 

Her eyes got huge, and she said, “Wow! We’re rich! You should sell that diamond and buy me an American Girl doll!” 

My daughter wanted me to use my riches to give her what she thought she needed most in life. And we see as we continue in Ephesians 2:4-5 that our Heavenly Father is not just merciful—He’s rich in mercy. Because of the vast wealth of His mercy, He is able to give us what we most need: salvation and new life. 

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4–5)

When we were dead in our sins, God intervened with the riches of His mercy. There is no level of sinfulness that’s beyond His forgiveness. He has all the mercy you could ever need. He’s rich in mercy, and He gives this mercy freely to His children. 

We can trust that if God gives the riches of His mercy to meet our greatest need, He will meet our lesser needs as well. Philippians 4:19 tells us that God will supply all our needs according to His glorious riches. Romans 8:32 teaches that He who did not spare His own Son will graciously give us all things. In Christ, we have everything we need. Our Heavenly Father lavishes us with the riches of His mercy. 

No matter what you face this week, God is rich in mercy. 

It’s a little word that can change everything in a second. It’s responsible for turning points in sentences and some of the most dramatic moments in reality TV. And when you pair it with God, you have some of my favorite verses in the Bible. Just when everything seems hopeless, we see these words: But God. 

This month we are going to be digging deep into Ephesians 2:4-5. But before we get to the good news, we need to acknowledge the bad news. We find a grim situation in Ephesians 2:1-3. We were dead in our sins and actively chasing disobedience and wickedness. Like all of mankind since Adam’s fall, we were deserving of God’s wrath because of our sin (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23). We were without hope and powerless to change our standing before God. 

But God. 

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4–5)

Our spiritual situation was hopeless—but God intervened. We were dead in our sins—but God gave us new life. We couldn’t keep God’s law—but Jesus obeyed perfectly in our place. We couldn’t atone for our sin—but Christ gave His life for us. We deserved death—but Christ conquered death and rose again. 

As we look around at a world filled with sin, disease, and difficulty, let’s remember that behind what we can see, there’s a “but God.” We’re hurting, but God is working all things for our good. We’re exhausted, but God will sustain us with His strength. We’re lonely, but God will never leave our side. We’re suffering, but God is preparing an eternal glory beyond our wildest dreams. 

No matter what you face this week, remember that “but God” changes everything. 

One of my favorite childhood books was Ramona the Pest. On Ramona’s first day of school, her smiling teacher welcomes her to the classroom, ushers her to her desk, and tells her, “Sit here for the present.” And so Ramona sits all day, waiting for the gift she expects to receive as a reward her for her obedience. She’s devastated and humiliated to discover at the end of the day that “present” means “for now.” That’s a disappointing first day of school! 

Do you ever feel like Ramona? Maybe you’re clinging to a promise of God, waiting for the present, but you feel like you’ve been left hanging for so long. You’re starting to wonder if your wait will end in disappointment. 

As Arthur Pink says in his book The Attributes of God: “It is one thing to accept the faithfulness of God as a Divine truth, it is quite another to act upon it” (p. 68, emphasis original). Waiting may seem passive, but waiting with expectation is one way we can act on our belief in God’s faithfulness. Waiting with joy, peace, and contentment shows our dependence on God when we haven’t yet seen His promises fulfilled in our circumstances. 

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.”  (Psalm 62:5)

When you wait for the Lord and place your hope in Him, He will be your steady rock. He will be your fortress – your safe refuge. And He will be your salvation and your Redeemer.  

Ramona didn’t just accept her teacher’s statement that a present was coming – she acted on it. While her action ended in disappointment, ours most definitely will not. 

No matter what you face this week, you can trust God’s faithfulness while you wait.