New Every Morning

-

 Read Lamentations 3:19-26

More toys than floor in the living room. Crayon art on the newly painted wall. Diapers in the bin that will curl your nose hair. Tears (some of them yours). Whining. A plate of spaghetti tossed to the floor to punctuate the sentence, "I want hot dogs!"

And then...nap time. Blessed, peaceful, sanity-saving naptime. What is it about a sleeping child that melts our frustrations and anger into ooey-gooey adoration? Pure love. The child who was on the brink of a thousand time outs is suddenly the cutest thing in the world and brings a different kind of tear to our eyes, along with a softness in our hearts.

When they wake up, the day is fresh and new, and the past fades away so we can begin again.

God is a parent too, and He has been there. Daily He watches us quarrel, disobey, throw tantrums, and leave messes in our wake. However, as the author of Lamentations graciously reminds us, "His mercies are new every morning." 

Like the peaceful sight of a sleeping child, grace and forgiveness wash over us because of the cross of Christ, and we are blessed with God's mercy. All thanks to His unfailing love and faithfulness. When God looks at us each morning, the sins of the past day are gone, and we are blanketed in Christ's righteousness. He sees us with His pure love.

As a parent, I have always been grateful for the sleeping times to renew and refresh. Let us extend our gratitude to our loving Father, who also greets us each morning with a brand new supply of love and mercy.

How does the sight of a sleeping child affect you?

Imagine God as the perfect Father looking down on His children each night. What does He feel? What gentle words does He have for you?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Committed to Prayer

-
Image
Read Daniel 10 to get the full story, but today we will focus on just the first few verses. As you read, take note of how Daniel prepared himself to hear from God, and also notice the important messages given to him when the information was revealed. The book of Daniel is packed full of wonderful accounts of God’s power manifest in Daniel’s life – the fiery furnace, the lion’s den, the handwriting on the wall. There’s plenty there to study and learn. This time I want to focus on a lesser known account in chapter 10, which gives us a glimpse into the spiritual realm. The first thing I noticed is how committed Daniel is to his prayer. In verses 2 and 3 we read about his sacrificial approach and focus on seeking God.   He describes himself as “mourning.” The definition of the original word here indicates lamenting, or walking with head downcast.  When we find ourselves in this condition, we need to follow Daniel’s example and go directly to seeking God. And his isn’t a quick pr
Read more

Waiting Stinks

-
Image
Read John 11:1-4 (We'll go farther in the story next time) Jesus’ friend Lazarus was sick. Very sick. His sisters sent for Jesus, the compassionate miracle-worker. When Jesus didn’t come right away, Martha and Mary suffered. They expected Jesus, the Healer who loved them, to come and save Lazarus. When Lazarus died instead, they were left with their own thoughts and questions. I can imagine that they wavered in their faith, sometimes thinking, “Jesus has so many people to help, of course He couldn’t just come when we asked,” and sometimes “But He’s our friend. Aren’t we important enough to Him that He would come and help?” They maybe even wondered why Jesus didn’t say the word from afar and save Lazarus’ life. He’d done it for others. Why not for them?
Read more

Meager Bread and Water

-
Image
  Read Isaiah 30:20-22 What truth is contained in these verses!! When we seek the Lord during hard times, things will become clearer and powerful things happen. Let's look at the three basic lessons that have become clear to me as I've studied this passage. First, God provides what we need – “meager bread and water.” Although we may be learning to do without some things, we still have a God who will meet our needs and help us become aware of our greediness for more than that. He has promised that when we first seek Him, He will provide for the daily stuff we tend to worry about (Matthew 6:33). Second, our Teacher will not be hidden and He will not be silent. Adversity helps us to grow and to learn about what God wants from us. As we stumble through the chaos, we will begin to see God in the midst of it, and God’s voice will become clearer.   He will lead us in His ways. Finally, when we are struggling, our lives get sifted. As the shaking continues, we begin to recogniz
Read more