Let’s face it – 2020 has been a strange year.
But God was not surprised by all the events that have happened.

Would you join me in a four-week countdown to Thanksgiving?
When we stop for a moment, we realize we have much to be thankful for.

²² The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

(Lamentations 3:22-24 English Standard Version)

Yesterday, we sat with the ancient prophet Jeremiah as the Lord reminded Jeremiah of His everlasting love and faithfulness. Today, we sit with Jeremiah again as he reflects on God’s love and considers the practical implications of being loved by God.

I am so thankful that God does not have “office hours” – He is available all day, every day, and there is no waiting to talk to Him. He invites us to connect with Him when we wake in the morning, when we go about our daily routines and work, when we play, when we are with friends and family, when we are alone, when we eat, and when we go to sleep.

I am also thankful that God knows our limitations, and gives us opportunities to start afresh. God calls these units of time “days”, and gives us rest between each one. And with the beginning of each day, He knows what we will need and gives us new mercies to begin each day.

Mercy seems to be a concept that is quickly fading from our modern vocabulary, isn’t it? Our culture expects perfection in everyone and everything, and is outraged when people and things fail to live up to their expectations and demands.

God, being the author and standard of perfection, knows we live in a broken world, and provides innumerable mercies (acts of compassion) to us every morning. Do we deserve them? Absolutely not. Does that change God’s love for us, or His kindness toward us? Not in the least. This is the faithfulness of God manifested (shown) to us each day.

And what is Jeremiah’s conclusion? In his most inward place, his soul, he knows that he knows that he knows that God is enough, and that God satisfies his deepest longings.

And that deep peace with God gives Jeremiah (and us) both hope and rest.

Here’s a paraphrase of this passage that captures these ideas well:

The Lord’s unfailing love and mercy still continue,
Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.
The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.

(Lamentations 3:22-24, Good News Translation)

Lord, thank You for Your unfailing love, and for Your mercies that You show to us each and every day. We certainly don’t deserve them – they are truly a gift from Your hand to us, and we could not survive without them.

Lord, I confess I sometimes believe the lies that the world tells me – that I can’t experience satisfaction unless I have whatever they are selling. But, like Jeremiah, I know that I know that I know, deep in my soul, that You alone are enough, and with You only do I experience ultimate satisfaction.

And in You and You alone I put my hope and find rest and peace.

Amen.

Thankful for God’s mercies which are new every morning,
~kevin