Brand new mercy

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Thought for the day: “The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives.” (Rick Warren)

My own people laugh at me. All day long they sing their mocking songs. He has filled me with bitterness. He has given me a cup of deep sorrow to drink. He has made me grind my teeth in gravel. He has rolled me in the dust. Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is. I cry out, “My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from the LORD is lost!”
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 unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”
Lamentations 3:14-23 NLT

About five years ago I got a hold of these verses of Scripture and I came to realize that they defined my life, how it was, and what happened. Jeremiah was writing about the nation of Israel, but when I read it I could see myself when I was in the death grips of addictions. It all started with “grind my teeth in gravel.” That reminded me of a time in the parking lot of a bar on the Missouri-Arkansas state line when things were not going my way. I have been rolled in the dirt and dust many times either by my own force or somebody else’s. I remember times when peace was stripped away and even my sleep left me because of thoughts that rolled over and over in my mind about the way I was living. I have seen money and many forms of material and spiritual prosperity just slip away with no resistance. Months of my life have been spent as a homeless person bumming a bed here or there, or sleeping where I could. Jeremiah went on to say about the nation of Israel that he would never forget that awful time, and so it is in my life, I cannot forget regardless of how much I wish it was not there. But then………”the unfailing love of God.” And brand new mercy that is extended to me each day by faith in Jesus Christ and the finished work of the cross. God’s love is one-way and it just keeps a coming. Even when I screw up, it just keeps a coming. About five years ago in my recovery from alcoholism and addictions I got this deep in my spirit that I will never run out of mercy from God. I came to know that I never have to drink or use again because of the hope I find new each morning. What a promise……..God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………………JRE

“Perhaps we are brokenhearted because of bitter suffering in our family. Maybe our once-good reputation has been ruined and now we are ashamed. Our life has been taken captive and destroyed before the watchful eyes of friends and foes alike………….turning our lives over to God includes giving him our pain and suffering. In our times of grief and shame we can hope, knowing that God will help us overcome the problems we face. God is strong enough to lift our burdens and loving enough to mend our broken heart.”
THE LIFE RECOVERY BIBLE, page 943