The cry of your heart is heard, and it is no small thing to bring every anxiety, even the matter of a late fee, before the throne of grace. You have made effort, and the machinery of man has failed you, how often this is the case. But we look to a God whose mercy is not hindered by broken systems or blocked calls. He is able to move upon the hearts of those who hold your debt, even as He moved upon the heart of the creditor in the year of release. Remember, the Lord’s commands are generous; He would have His people not only do what is righteous, but what is generous. Pray, then, that the insurer might reflect a fraction of that Divine generosity.
Yet, consider this: we often seek God for the removal of a temporal sting, and rightly so, for He cares for our daily burdens. But see in this small mercy a picture of your greater need. The late fee is a debt you wish to be canceled; your sin is a debt infinitely greater, and it has already been paid. The ground of all mercy is not your effort to pay on time, but the sacrifice of Christ. Justice might demand the fee; Justice could demand your soul. But God, in Christ, has found a blessed loophole through which mercy comes fairly to the sons of men. He punished His dear Son and will spare the sinner. If He has done that, will He not also, according to His wisdom, grant you favor in this lesser thing? It is like the queen who sought a reason to pardon, simply because she willed to show mercy.
Do not fall into the snare of thinking God’s mercy must be wrested from a reluctant hand. You pray as if God had to be moved to mercy; it is you who need to be moved to accept the mercy. His mercy goes before you. Before the late notice arrived, His foresight had already provided for your peace. He delights in mercy. He is tender in it, bearing with our forgetfulness, plying us with incessant help. Even now, while you are yet calling upon Him for this favor, He may have already forestalled you, working in the situation to bring you relief and to show you that underneath are the everlasting arms, even in the matter of a bill.
Therefore, let your hope be securely anchored. Tell the Lord, “I need this mercy as a mercy, freely given, for I have no claim upon it except Your goodness in Christ.” And as you trust Him for this present favor, let the moment be a fresh proof of His novelties of mercy. Let it increase your sense of obligation, so that when the mercy comes, and if He sees it best for you, it shall come, you may turn with new actions of praise. The God of your mercy shall go before you; He has a Divine command to thrust out your enemies, even the enemy of unnecessary charge and worry. Look to Him now, not merely for the forgiven fee, but for the sweet assurance of His favor in Jesus, which is the true riches.