His Mercies are New

"The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning." ~ Lamentations 3:22-23

Jeremiah spoke of God's mercies to remind the people things could be worse. Yes, the temple was destroyed. Yes, Jerusalem was in shambles. Yes, things looked dim. But for God, things could be worse. He wanted the people, in the midst of lamenting about what was lost, to remember what was not lost. God protected them. They were not destroyed. His mercy kept them safe. His mercy was present, even during what appeared to be their darkest hour - the light of God was present. He was present.

It is not only a new day - it is a new year. And, for me, the last year was filled with a lot of loss and destruction. Loss of relationships. Loss of dreams. Loss of physical body parts that were causing more harm than good. It was a hard year. And, at times I allowed myself to fall into the same mindset as the people of Jerusalem. I lamented. I cried. I did not always see the presence of God's mercies. But, I needed those temporary moments of destruction and lament in order to truly see His faithfulness and mercy. We often want to avoid the bad in order to see God's good. Yet, it is in the bad where we truly learn to recognize the good. The spiritual good of our Father that transcends any bad the world may throw.

I don't know what you are going through today. I don't know what problems or difficulties followed you into the new year, but here's what I do know - His love and faithfulness are real. He has not forsaken you. His mercies are new and they are with you. No matter how bad things may be - I promise you they could be worse. Find the good today. No matter how small. And pursue hope from that space.