Entry 5: His Mercies are New Every Morning
What if every morning, you had to rate God’s love for you on a scale of 1-10. Where would you rate yourself? “Well, I didn’t read my bible yesterday, so God probably loves me at a 6.” Or, “Wow, I got up early to pray and spend time with God, so he must love me at a 9.” or, “I can’t believe what I did last night. God couldn’t love me more than a 2.” Every morning marks the start of a new day, with new blessings, and new opportunities. But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t still affected by the decisions, the mistakes, and the sin from yesterday.
As Christians, we are often reflecting on what God thinks of us, and how he views us. In Galatians 1:10, Paul says: “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God?” We know that to seek God’s approval is the most important thing we can do, and it is our mission as Christians to be good and faithful servants unto the LORD. But what if we don’t know what God wants from us? How does he view us?
If I’m being honest, for a long time, I thought God saw me as a failure. Only a year ago, I was dealing with feelings of depression and struggling to make it through each day. It felt like God was asking me to do things for him, and when I couldn’t do them, he was disappointed and angry with me. I not only saw myself as a terrible Christian, but as a terrible friend, a terrible daughter and a terrible sister. I cried often, not sure how to reconcile with those deep feelings of anguish. I tried every kind of schedule, to do list, motivational planner to try and get myself to do the things I needed to do, but it felt like every step forward was miniscule compared to the distance I had to go. I was incredibly addicted to scrolling social media and binge eating, seeking comfort and refuge from my feelings. And if you had asked me to rate God’s love for me in that time, I’d probably put it at a 2. Every morning, I woke up with the word, “failure” in the back of my mind, and the weight of that shame followed me into the next day, and the next day, and the next day.
Today, I still struggle with those feelings of shame and guilt. That fear that I am a failure, and I will never be able to overcome my sin. But now, I have the revelation of God’s truth to tell me that my fears are a lie, and that His love, is immeasurable. A few weeks ago, I was in a bible study at my school, and one of our leaders brought up the idea of the “1-10” scale. She said it was a way in which she recognized the lie that God loved her any less than He actually did. I found it to be a powerful analogy, because for so long, I had been rating God’s love on that scale without even knowing it. And by doing so, my view of myself and my view of God, was warped.
God’s love cannot be measured. It is steadfast, it is reckless, it is faithful. His love is not conditional, and it is not subject to change. God’s love does not depend on what you do or don’t do, and it certainly cannot be diminished or contained. God’s love extends to even the darkest corners of the world, so how could it not reach you? God’s love can’t be illustrated on a scale of 1-10. It’s overwhelming and wonderful and powerful. God’s love gives sight to the blind, freedom to the captive, a home to the orphan. God’s love is what sent Jesus to die for us, and what rose him from the dead 3 days later. Lamentations 2:22-23 says, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.” GOD’S LOVE NEVER ENDS. With each morning, God’s mercy is NEW. When You think that God is calling you a “failure”, He is really calling you, “beloved”.
A week ago, when I was having a rough day, I told my boyfriend, “I always just feel so defeated. I have all these expectations for myself, and when I can’t meet them, I just hear the word failure. And I can’t tell if it’s conviction or a lie.” In response, he said this to me, “You may feel like there are all these expectations, which there may be. But they aren’t expectations you instantly need to live up to. You can’t just immediately be a good follower of Christ and fulfill it. But as you desire to do so, and bring it to the Lord, he will move in it. Don’t let the enemy make you think you aren’t enough and that you are a failure because you aren’t perfect. We can never be perfect. As we remain in Jesus, we become more like Jesus, which is what truly matters in eternity.” Wise words from a wise guy. And they apply to all of us. God never expects us to be perfect, and yet we’re trying so hard to live up to those expectations anyway. God offers us mercy, but we try so hard to earn it, when really, that’s not how mercy works.
Stop rating God’s love for you on a scale. Stop fearing God’s disappointment. Stop believing the lies the enemy tells you. Stop waking up each morning thinking that God loves you any less than he did the day before. God CHOSE you to be his child, he calls you his own. Stop thinking that anything you do is enough to separate you from God’s steadfast love. Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Rest in the wonderful promise of God’s love for you today. Remember, that with each new day, his mercies are new.
