“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therfore will I hope in Him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.” Lam. 3:22-26
Today’s Christian Daily Devotional
This verse makes my heart swell with such love. God really is a GOOD God. The parts about God that these verses fail to mention, is that God is even good even to those who do not wait on Him, and who have no desire to seek Him. I know this about his nature because that goodness is what actually broke my heart and gave me the desire know Him. When I was a little girl, I remember going to church and feeling God’s love. (I actually had the audacity to tell people that I thought I was God’s “favorite”! That is how loved I felt.) But, after many hurtful things happened to me in that church, I turned my back on God. It did not matter that He loved me; I had a life to live. “His people” had offended and hurt me so “threw the baby out with the bathwater” and washed my hands clean of anything that resembled Him. Guess what? Through it all I reaped success. I went places and experienced things that many girls dream of. I was being blessed even though I was spitting in the face of God (with my rebellion). When I met my husband, I began to feel overwhelmed by the love of God. You see, (when I was around the age of nine) my Sunday school teacher had encouraged us girls to make a list of the kind of character qualities (and physical features) we would like in our future husbands. She told us to pray over that list and to ask God to save that special man for the right time in our lives. I did just that. I kept that list and put it in my “hope chest”, always pulling it out when I was sad or discouraged; always hoping that God would remember my wishes. I told my mother that I would never settle for anything less, and she teased me that if I was stuck to that list, I would end up alone. But, something in my heart told me to hold out for God’s promise to me. The day I met John I KNEW he was THE ONE. This was ten years ago. After eight years of marriage, I am still amazed that God remembered my dreams; and that God actually answered them during a time in my life when I was anything but deserving of it! Why is that? Because God IS GOOD, even when we are not. He desires to bless each one of us, because that is His nature. Doesn’t that make you want to just live for Him? It makes me want to!
“Dear Heavenly Father,
I wonder how many blessings you have given me that I have just taken for granted. I wonder how many times I have complained about the things I do not have instead of thanked you for all the good things I do have. I wonder how unappreciated I have made you feel over the years, and how many opportunities I have missed to give you honor because I was so involved with myself and “getting more”. How shameful of me. I want to drop to my knees. I am sorry. I am such a fool. You are so good and I have taken so much for granted. Please forgive me of my selfishness, my self-centeredness and my audacity. Bless me with a heart that will recognize my blessings and focus on that instead of the lie that I am entitled to more. In Jesus’ precious name, forgive me Lord and help me to be the kind of person that will not take any good thing for granted from this day forward. Amen.”
*For more of THE LIGHT in this dark world, go to: shalombewithyo.wpengine.com