This Day

Lamentations 3:19-24 The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!

Have you noticed that when we have suffered severe loss that our day of tragedy seemed like a normal day for everyone else. On the day we are fired, learned our mother had cancer, discovered our spouse was unfaithful, or held the hand of a friend as she died—on that very day other people went about their business as usual. My best friend has died! we silently scream. How can you go to work, eat out, and catch a movie as if nothing has changed? Don’t you care?

Worse, our disastrous day seemed normal for God as well. The sun shone, clouds rolled by, night fell, and stars appeared. Doesn’t God care either?

The book of Lamentations captured Jeremiah’s anguished cry for the suffering of his people. Life was bad. Jerusalem had been destroyed and its citizens carried off to Babylon. Those left behind had resorted to cannibalism. Jeremiah laments that his suffering “is bitter beyond words,” but he grasps a glimmer of hope when he remembers that “the faithful love of the Lord never ends” and “His mercies begin afresh each morning” (3:19-23).

Actually, the Lord’s mercies don’t merely begin each morning, they are each morning. Psalm 104 praises God for faithfully tending His diverse creation. The routine events of nature—are all directed by God’s powerful hand. “When You give them Your breath, life is created, and You renew the face of the earth” (v.30).

I had an exchange student from Norway, Majken, who told me that when she was grieving the death of her brother she was comforted by words she heard me say, “No matter how dark or bad it seems, the sun will still come up in the morning.” The clockwork consistency of nature on your worst day is a reminder that God cares. Take it as a sign that God loves you. He’s not debilitated by His grief for you, but is preserving your life until the morning when His mercies will begin afresh.

This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it! (Psalm 118:24)

Lord, I thank You for this new day and watching over us in the night. It is through Your mercy and grace we are blessed with this day. Help us to remember circumstances are temporary but You are everlasting and greater than anything that comes against us today. You are our strength and our provider. It is in Your name, Jesus, we pray. Amen