19 The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. 20 I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. 21 Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: 22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” Lamentations 3:19-24 NLT
Please take a moment and read this passage again.
Yesterday I was praying with another friend for close friends going through very hard times. One pastor’s wife passed away, another was asking for prayer for her husband in an induced coma and on the ventilator, and another’s husband was diagnosed with lymphoma and as she is processing this information contracts COVID.
As we prayed for the man on the ventilator, this is what came from my heart. “Dear Jesus, my friend is unable to pray for himself. Others are contending for his life. He loves you and will be happy in heaven, but he is a daddy and a husband. His family needs him. Now he is at the mercy of the doctors and medicine.” The last statement jolted me!. “Wait a minute God. Your mercies never run out. Your mercies are new every morning. Your mercies are real and create hope.” I was okay asking God to give my friend “new mercies” for him and his family.
Hope is not found in a desire for things to get better. Hope is found in remembering the relationship that exists with God. God helps (extends mercy) to the righteous and the unrighteous, but His eyes are always on His children. If there was ever a time that people needed to “get things right with God”, this would be a really good one.
The Psalmist in chapter 40 said that God took him out of the miry mess and gave him a firm place to stand. We must be communicating the message that Jesus took our sin and yuck upon himself that we can have a new heart with him.
But what about the followers of Jesus that are also getting sick and dying from sickness, accidents or disease? Why weren’t they immune from this type of pain and suffering? Doesn’t being a child of God come with perks that avoid pain and suffering?
The subjectiveness of the answer to these questions doesn’t sound very flashy. Even in the midst of not knowing how things will turn out, even when grief has overwhelmed your heart, even when you have prayed one way and the events went another…lean into the love and mercies of God, for in that place you will find peace and hope in the struggles.
It is not “poof” and your troubles are gone. It is an anchor to stop the drifting. It is a lighthouse to navigate the darkness. It is a sound of heaven that rises above the clattering noise. It is a peaceful presence in the swirling storm. It is a calm that rises above the swirling thoughts of “what if? And how will I?”. It is a strength that comes from standing on the rock that cannot be moved. This is the hope for those who lean onto the loving mercies of Father, God.
On this Monday Mantra, there is a blessing for remembering the loving mercies of the Lord that fail us not. We feel the need to recite to God all of the troubles, but let them lead you to the mercies and compassions of the Lord that never fail and are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.
Blessings Love y’all