God’s Mercy Remains

– Ponderings:

According to Google, today is National Pet Day, National Cheese Fondue Day, and National Eight-Track Tape Day. The first, I don’t find necessary because, in my house, every day is pet day. As for the second, can you imagine listening to the conversation when the need for a cheese fondue day was discussed? As for the last, I am more from the cassette generation, but I did have a “portable” eight-track player for a time. The thing was as big as a microwave oven today and took, as best as I can recall, eight “D” batteries.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’” (Lamentations 3:22-24).

Thankfully, we don’t need a National Today God Loves Me Day. God loves, forgives, and cares for us every day. Every morning when we wake up, God’s love is ready and waiting for us.

The prophet Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations in the ashes of Jerusalem’s fall to the Babylonian empire. He doesn’t deny the pain or the loss. He doesn’t rush past the lament and sorrow. But in the middle of his grief, he anchors his soul with this truth: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. Even when everything else fails, God’s mercy remains.

That’s a word for us in Lent. In Lent, we encounter the mercy that never comes to an end. These verses are a blessing. God’s love is not measured by how we feel or by our circumstances. His mercy isn’t handed out sparingly as if it will run out if we use too much of it. It renews itself every morning, and it is endless.

Reflection: Where do you need God’s mercy to meet you today?

What would it look like to start each morning saying to yourself, “Today is National God Loves Me Day. That’s true for tomorrow as well. And for the day after that and the day after that, without end.”

When we truly understand God’s steadfast love, we can dare to say with the prophet, “The Lord is my portion… therefore I will hope in him.”

Prayer: Lord, in the middle of all that is broken, in me and around me, I cling to your steadfast love. Thank you that your mercies are new every morning. Help me to hope in you, my portion and my peace. Amen.