I put the words from Lamentations on the top of my secretary where I pass by it each morning.
The desk is the one I bought at an antique shop while traveling in Tennessee. My heart loves old things. I love to imagine who used it and the letters they may have penned to love ones while sitting at the desk. Not long after I purchased it, it fell over in the back of my van. It seemed to have broken at every joint–at every place where one piece of wood joined another. Looking like a jumble of puzzle pieces, I didn’t think it would ever be whole again. That Christmas, my husband and father-in-law spent the day gluing and securing the desk back together, one piece at a time.
I walk by these words each morning after I awaken. I look at the desk and it reminds me that all things broken can be made whole.
Each night before I rest my head on my pillow, I am already forgiven for all that’s happened during the day. When I awaken the next day, God has fresh mercy ready and waiting for me.
New mercies each day–a gift each morning; an opportunity to start again. Like fresh fallen manna to fill the stomach, His mercy drops fresh each day to feed my soul.
By the end of each day, I am weighed down by all that’s gone on. The times I raised my voice, the times I grumbled and complained about my life, and all the times I didn’t love bare down hard on my soul.
What if I lived life in the strength of mercy and grace rather than my own?
What if I rested in the promise that He makes all things new?
Each day is a new day and a new opportunity to live in the grace we’ve been given. When I awaken and recall that all I’ve done the day before is thrown as far as the east is from the west, I begin anew with a heart full of gratitude. As I go about my day, remembering how much I am loved by the Father, it strengthens me to live for Him. Each time I stumble and fall, I remember what Christ did for me and that I am completely forgiven. There’s nothing I can do to make Him stop loving me or stop Him extending rich mercy toward me.
God has mercy and grace in so much abundance to lavish on us that He gives it anew each and every day. His love and forgiveness for us is beyond measure. May this truth fill the hunger of our souls each morning as we awaken and strengthen us throughout whatever the day brings.
Do you take this gift of mercy extended to you each day?
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” Lamentations 3: 22-24
“To grasp the old faithfulness of God anew every morning, to be able–in the middle of life–to begin a new life with God daily, that is the gift that God gives with every morning.” Deitrich Bonhoeffer
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Beautiful and timely. May we truly rest in His arms and soak in the grace and mercy that He extends to us. Thank you for being a light and a reminder of His unending love.
A good reminder to do what many of us already do, but on a daily basis.