I'm loving these gorgeous mornings God's been sending our way! Now those of you who know me well, know that this gal is not what you call an appreciative human being in the mornings. But this kind of morning is one that makes me glad to be alive, and that's even before my first cup of coffee! Now that folks is a miracle of God - the fact that I'm loving the morning before I've even had my coffee. So if you've been having doubts recently that God is capable of working miracles, He's doing one right here in me (and not only in adjusting my morning state of mind, He's doing much more awesomeness in my life, just sayin'...)
These mornings remind me that I have a fresh dose of God's grace for the day. Grace for the stress that's bound to make me tense, grace for the overwhelming demands of studying, grace for the times that I want to react in anger, grace for the temptations that come my way. And the list could go on. It's amazing how quickly I can go from standing out in the fresh morning air with this calming gratitude and worshiping in God's overflowing Presence to an uptight, stressed-out, ungrateful, frustrated grouch. My human-ness is what brings me back again and again to God's grace, His loving mercy.
The verses that God's been bringing into my consciousness many times in the last week are Lamentations 3:21-26
"Yet will I still dare to hope when I remember this:
The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By his mercies we have been
kept from complete destruction.
Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day.
I say to myself, "The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope
in him!"
The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait quietly for salvation
from the Lord.
So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord."
If you read the previous chapters, you'll find that Jeremiah was overcome with grief and lament. But yet I love how he switches his tune and says "Yet will I still dare to hope when I remember" that the Lord is so merciful and great in his faithfulness. I don't know about you but when I'm grieving and hurting, I struggle to "dare to hope". You with me sister? It's hard to turn to our Father and hand Him our hurts and tell Him that we're hoping in Him. Even if He doesn't magically make our wounds all better right in the here and now. Even if He leads us into more pain, even if we don't feel Him with us in our grief.
Who's willing to bite the bit and join me in this journey of daring to hope in our Father and His unfailing love and faithfulness?
Top of the mornin' to y'all! And may you be filled with many cups of coffee in the days to come!
Just a little note: I wrote this in the afternoon/evening - my most coherent time of day. In case you were wondering how I managed to string coherent words together right away in the morning. But in my defense...I did start this in the morning hours. Cheers!
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