Staring blankly ahead at cabinets that need a thorough cleaning, I pour caffeinated coffee into a small mug. Bringing the steaming mug to my lips, I read the verse on the inside of my coffee mug: “His mercies are new every morning.” I love that, I think. New morning, with the delicate sun tenderly painting the tree tops a golden hue, cheerily greeting the plants and animals below. God, in his mercy, faithfully greeting us with a new day. I love the imagery and beauty that the scene paints. What a nice verse about God’s faithfulness.
And then I move on.
Pouring my coffee, chasing my son into his high chair, feeding my dog, putting my other son into his Boppy pillow. I nonchalantly went on with the day’s events, the verse slowly losing its meaning in the monotony of my day.
A bit harsh with my child and didn’t apologize?—Thank you Lord for new mercies.
Annoyed with husband and blamed him for something he didn’t cause?—Thank you Lord for new mercies.
Spent too much time on social media and not enough time in my Bible?—Thank you Lord for new mercies.
The power of this verse was just about lost on me completely until—
A still voice whispered that I should read a little more into this verse. That this was not the full in-context promise. This “summary” of God’s faithfulness printed on a coffee mug was far from the the whole story. In fact, as I listened to this voice and read the verse in its context, my heart broke for the mercy for which God’s people begged. This verse was not the fragile picture I painted looking out my kitchen window. This verse was the heart cry of a bruised, battered, and beaten people, begging for His mercy and longing to see God’s faithfulness.
Reading Lamentations through from start to finish broke my heart right into pieces. But this breaking of my heart is the exact thing I pray for: “God, please break my heart for what breaks yours. Give me eyes to see the way you see and ears to hear the way you hear.”
And, whoa. God answers those prayers with His living word.
Just a little background on Lamentations. The book of Lamentations is a poetic glimpse into the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. Jerusalem has sinned, forgotten God, and God has come to discipline Jerusalem. God brings his destruction in the most heartbreaking way—anger, dishonor, mourning and lamenting. This book consists of 5 poems that will give you the chills…and yet there is a quiet but fierce hope untangling the agonizing mess.
As I sat reading the heaviness of the poems of Lamentations, line after line of complete horror, I wondered when God was going to show up. How could our good God allow this death and destruction? The author writes with such passion and authority about the torment and terror that he and his people are going through.
After reading line after line of complete horror, I came to the third poem. And here is where I began feeling the depression and dread the author felt, my own depression summed up in this author’s swift words:
“My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is…”
Lamentations 3:17
I became very uncomfortable as I remember my own pits of despair, my own panic attacks, my own depression. I wanted to know when God was coming to be the rescuer that he normally is for these people, for myself. The terror that gripped my throat and chilled my blood while reading is the same terror that I feel when I forget that God is breaking down walls and running up mountains for me.
The author remembers his own past grievances, his deception, his sin, and he becomes depressed. He wants to hang his head in despair at the things he has done. He forgets what happiness is because he has forgotten who God is.
But then this author asks and invites God to remember his afflictions and his homelessness. He wants to know that God has seen him at his worst because he doesn’t want to keep reliving the horror he’s endured.
Crying, I continue to read, and my heart lifts as I see where God is the heroic rescuer, the Kinsman-Redeemer, the great I Am…
“Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish,
for his mercies NEVER end.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness!
I say, “The Lord is my portion,
therefore I will put my hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24
God has seen this people’s sins, and yet still bestows mercy and grace upon them. Because of God’s faithful love, we do not perish. We may be disciplined but we are not crushed. His mercies never end. They are new every morning. And we can sing wonderful songs of his great faithfulness. Just like the dawning sun with that first cup of coffee, his love never ceases. God is good to those who wait for him (Lamentations 3:25).
God, in his infinite compassion, showed a devastatingly broken people mercy.
And, friend, in my most desperate, trying moments, God extends this same compassion and mercy to me, bringing me from my breaking point.
But then the enemy quickly ensnares me and I think about my simple days—the crumbs, the crying, the conundrums—reading about these mercies seem like a boulder on a butterfly.
These mercies are for someone in the depths of despair, in the middle of a panic attack, at the end of the rope. They are for people who have earned them through their desperate pleas. These mercies are for the grievers who have lost all hope. Are these new mercies still for me, in my day-to-day, crumb-infested, laundry-induced meltdowns?
Yes. I believe that God wants to bless us with HIS new mercies each and every morning no matter what our pit looks like. Our pits can look different depending on the season we’re in or even time of day. When we ask for His grace and mercy, He wants to bestow upon us the confidence that we are able to come to Him for every panicked or distressing moment. Yesterday’s sins are forgotten (because we’ve confessed and lamented them) and today is a new day to serve the good King, free from the thoughts that tend to bind us.
Thank you, my heavenly Father, and Amen.
So when I look at my coffee mug filled to the brim, almost covering this Bible verse, my heart is filled with new hope, an unshakeable hope that no world-quake can upset. I am not left alone in my despair or my doubts. In this new day, God is running after my heart, chasing away the depression, filling me up to completion. And I have faith that He will continue this faithfulness for my children.
“For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations.”
Psalms 100:5
What does God intend from the fruit of faithfulness and our circumstances?
Adam and Eve had the perfect morning each and every morning. God walked with them in the Garden, conversing easily with them. They knew God loved them and they loved God. There was no sin and no reason to run and hide. God promised he would meet them in the morning, and He did just that.
What or who is stealing the fruit of God’s faithfulness?
But, that slithery scathing serpent slipped right into the garden and into Eve’s head and had her second-guessing all the truths that God had placed in her heart. She didn’t know who to believe and ultimately gave in to the enemy’s desires for her heart. And she felt nothing but brokenness.
The enemy is tricky like that. The enemy wants to keep us in that pit of depression where all happiness is forgotten. He wants to blot out any hope we have that God is still on our side. In our motherhood, in our day-to-day circumstances, the enemy will try to do everything he can to create space between you and God. Our job in those moments of free fall is to trust that God is faithfully fighting this battle.
How do we cultivate knowledge of God’s faithfulness in our most difficult circumstances?
God is not dead nor does He sleep. God is always on the move: fighting for us when we have nothing left; interceding for us when our groans are inaudible even to ourselves; blessing us with new mercies and grace every day. When we remember that God knows our past, He knows our past sins, the mistakes we wish we could erase, our hearts can become lighter knowing that God carries our burdens for us. The same God yesterday, today, and forever more hasn’t changed just because our circumstances have changed or our attitude towards our own selves has changed. He still adores us with the same love He has shown us in our weakest moments and in our “strongest” moments. God’s faithfulness is a beautiful gift ready to be remembered and enjoyed. Let his thoughts of you wash over your weary soul, dear friend.
