Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Out With the Old and In With the New

I wonder how many times that phrase has been uttered in the last 24 hours? I wonder how many times folks stop and truly reflect on the meaning of those words?

How wonderful to have a fresh start! How fantastic is it to know that this year can be better than the last.! That we can do things differently. I can't imagine trying to do these things in my own strength though. If I had to rely upon myself alone I would surely fail. This is a time to truly be thankful for God's grace in our lives. It is His strength and His grace alone that will see us through another year. Praise be to God for that!

As I was sitting here this morning, I couldn't help but think of these verses:

Lam 3:22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
Lam 3:23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Wow. What an awesome promise from God. His love never ceases and His mercies are never ending and new every morning! Not every year- we don't have to wait, y'all! It doesn't get much better than that!

Why, we should never worry or complain or fear anything when we know we can claim those kinds of promises, right?

Easier said than done, I know.

Please understand, I'm not mocking scripture or God's promises. God's promises are true and good. It is us, as miserable sinners, wrapped in our own sense of self and pride, that cannot rest in these promises as we should. As Christians, it shouldn't take a "New Year" for us to realize we have a fresh start. God tells us we can have a new start EVERY-SINGLE-DAY!

For me, where I am right now, this is like butter for my soul. I'm glad that it is every day we have those mercies and not just every year. Because right now, I am going into the new year struggling with a few things. Nothing serious, but enough to make me frustrated and unsure. (These are the way overactive hormones work, y'all.) I couldn't imagine thinking about how I'm feeling right now and then saying to myself, "Self. We only have 364 more days of this and then we can start over!".

Right now it's minute by minute. Hour by hour. And I rest in the fact that tomorrow, not next year, I get a whole new set of God's mercies to get me through the day.

What can I say to that? What can I say about God's love and mercies?

Bring it on.



2 comments:

Sadie said...

Thank you for sharing this Michelle! His mercies are new every morning, we definitely need to keep that perspective. What perfect timing He has! I pray that the Lord continues to strengthen your walk with Him in this upcoming year, no matter what trials may lie ahead.

Michelle said...

Thank-you Mrs. E.! I pray the same for you. I know this is going to be a big year for y'all as well!

Blessings!