How are you when you wake up in the morning? Are you a slow riser or do you leap out of bed? What are the first things that pop into your head or heart? Our initial daily attitudes can affect our whole day...
As we moved into another lockdown in January I kept coming across the same bible verse. It popped up on random Instagram posts, my bible app, people's emails and texts to me, my husband's ramblings... I've learnt that when I start seeing or hearing the same thing several times to take note - God is speaking to me! Here's the verse:
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT)
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I was struck by the incredible ongoing promise of fresh mercies for each day! How kind of the Lord to constantly give us a new start. How gracious He is and how well He knows us! We all need this grace don't we? I'm certainly painfully aware of my shortcomings, mistakes and down-right poor attitudes, which seem especially apparent during the pressure cooker of lockdown 3!
I took note of this promise from the Lord to start afresh everyday, to check my first thoughts and attitudes on waking and to adjust them to line up with Jesus' heart for me to have hope, to trust in Him, to look to Him, to walk in grace for myself and others.
Then I was drawn to Jesus' wonderful antidote to worry:
Matthew 6:33-34 (NCV)
Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well. So don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
I love how this verse builds on Lamentations with the focus on the new day in front of us! Jesus is revealing that there is the provision we need as we live one day at a time, not worrying, but seeking Him and His kingdom.
I encourage you to stay focussed on today! Yes, we can still make plans, yes, we can have hope for the future whilst still acknowledging difficulties, yes we can be real about life, BUT we can receive those fresh daily mercies that we so desperately need! And which will in turn affect every area of our life for good.
So tomorrow morning when you wake up why not take a breath, extend grace to yourself and declare with faith:
'God's mercies are new for me today, He is with me, He knows what I need and I receive His peace, strength and provision right now for this day!'
Seek to stay focussed on your day, on the person or the task in front of you and keep trusting Jesus when you feel anxiety, stress, worry, a poor attitude... sneaking up on you!
