"Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" Lamentations 3:22-23
This morning I am reminded of God's compassions, and how they are truly new each morning.Right now, I have various friends, I'm thinking of 3 in particular, who have some very deep struggles going on in their lives. We are people who lift each other up in love, support and prayer..so I am aware of their struggles since they share with me. I've seen God's handprints all over their lives, and I know that God is ever faithful and will get them through the current trial they are facing.
Life would be so wonderful if the trials weren't a part of it! Or would it? When I think about my own life, some of my richest moments in life have been in the midst of a trial. For me, my deepest personal growth has usually resulted from a situation I didn't want to be in. Don't get me wrong...I do NOT like trials. I'm not THAT crazy. (craziness being a topic for another discussion). I have just lived long enough to know that after the trial, and sometimes during the trial, I've had some of life's most beautiful moments.
Looking back, or looking at the present...I am able to God's handprints all over. He doesn't take a big magic wand and make my troubles disappear, but I feel His hands on me...guiding me, comforting me, holding me when I need to be held. His hands are strong and gentle at the same time, and I'm so thankful for to be able to feel those hands.
My prayers this morning for my 3 friends who are hurting, are that they will feel God's hands upon them. I'm glad they are in my life, and that they are the kind of friends who share with me as I have shared with them. I grieve for the various wounds and or storms they are facing. I wish those things weren't in their lives right now. I'm praying that they will remember that they will NOT be consumed by the battles they are facing, because God's love is greater than whatever mountain we are having to climb.
And one of the sweetest reminders of God's faithfulness came in the form of an email from a precious friend, who has walked the road of heartache and divorce many years ago. God traveled with her on her painful journey, and has healed those wounds. She is in a loving marriage now, and she has a wonderful circle of family and friends. But the road has been hard. She and I have prayed, cried, laughed and grown together. And except for a very brief time, never lived in the same town! She has been blessed to have an early Thanksgiving weekend with ALL of her grown kids and some of their friends and/or significant others in her home. She wrote me this morning to tell me of getting choked up in her Thankgiving prayer before the meal...choked up because she was so overwhelmed with the bounty of love at that table, and her heart was bursting at the seams with the joy of all being together. When you go through a painful season, you wonder at times if you will feel that kind of happiness...the kind that chokes you up and just makes you heart feel so full and warm. You may be having the joy and peace that God gives, but there are moments that you just want that emotion of happiness again. My friend has had a huge dose of that this weekend.
This morning, as I lift my hurting friends up, I was delighted that I also was able to share in another friend's happiness. What a beautiful reminder that we will not be consumed by life and the trials it brings...I'm so thankful that He is faithful and that we can have new mornings.
