I was asked a question about Lot’s daughters the other day. Apparently that was still on my mind as I read a few chapters in Jeremiah. I’ve read them before many times, but this time the Lord’s mercy was astoundingly clear.

He had pronounced judgement on Moab in chapter 48. Verse 11 says, “Moab has been at ease from his youth; he has settled on his dregs, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into captivity. Therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent has not changed.”

Verse 42 says, “And Moab shall be destroyed as a people, because he exalted himself against the Lord.” Verse 46-27 says, “Woe to you, O Moab!…Yet I will bring back the captives of Moab in the latter days, says the Lord….” Do you see His mercy?

Our fiery trials are a picture of God’s mercy. He strategically uses them to pour us from vessel to vessel, so we don’t settle on our dregs. Trials intensify our acknowledgment for our dependence on Him. Our taste changes and so does our scent.