Mercy Amid Oppression

Neville's Inner Vision

Oppression is the outer scene your senses show; the truth of you is the I AM, the unassailable awareness that cannot be touched by appearances. Hazael’s pressure represents the stubborn habits of thought that would cast you from life. Yet the LORD is gracious unto Israel because of the covenant—an inner memory that you are forever joined to Source. This covenant is not a mere historical fact; it is the vivid realization that your being is kept in grace and not destroyed by any moment. When you assume you are the I AM having this experience, you begin to see that the apparent enemy cannot sever your presence with God. The compassion described in the verse is your own inner compassion toward yourself: you refuse to abandon your life to fear, you respect the seed of your true identity, and you trust that nothing can cancel your relation to Divine breath. By abiding in that inner covenant, you do not escape the scene so much as you outgrow it, and the oppression loses its hold as you stand in the ever-present mercy that is your true nature.