“The Lord's unfailing love and mercy still continue,
Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.
The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.”
Lamentations 3:22-24
A sunrise is a special thing; it happens every single day, yet no two are alike, and every day, each sunrise is newly beautiful. If you’re like me, you probably have a few sunrises throughout your life that you remember vividly, because they were more than sunrises, they were moments, big or small. These days, I often find myself working night shifts, and the sunrise has become an important moment for me. I don’t know how scientifically true it is, but the expression “it’s darkest before the dawn” certainly FEELS true in a literal sense. I can’t count how many times while driving through the night I have felt I was barely going to make it, could hardly stay awake, with the roads pitch black dark, only to suddenly see a faint glimmer of the sun creeping through the treeline, suddenly assuring me I could make it. Likewise, on the more metaphorical side of things, I remember in one particularly hard season of my life, driving down the road while roadtripping across the country. After an early morning hitting the road while the stars were still out, the sun began to rise slowly and paint the sky brilliant colors I swore I had never seen before and haven’t seen since. And as my tires sped gently across the lone highways of Wyoming, in that moment I somehow knew everything would be okay. And eventually, it was.
I don’t know that it’s a universal thing, hopefully I’m not the only one that feels this way or this will be a terribly disappointing devotional for the rest of you, but I think that’s sort of the universal feeling that a sunrise tends to give, isn’t it? “We made it through the night.” “It’s officially a new day.” “It’s going to be okay.” The sunrise doesn’t just represent newness, it’s a calm assurance, a blissful quiet reminder every morning that there is breath in our lungs, that the world is still spinning, and maybe if for but a moment, things are quiet and beautiful and good. A sunrise is a comfort. And I think that’s why I love this passage from Lamentations 3 so much. Especially the Amplified Translation. “It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness. The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.” His tender compassions do not fail, and they are new every morning. What if we viewed each day with that mentality? Knowing He is as sure as the sunrise?
Maybe you are relentlessly positive, blissfully naive, or just have somehow yet to experience how difficult life can be, but if you’re like most of us, you have had seasons, years, months, where life has beaten you to the ground and tried to keep you there permanently. I know I have. But just as the sunrise gives me a feeling that a new day is here, I’m reminded when I read this passage that each day brings new compassion from a heavenly Father who loves me. And no matter what I face, I’m not consumed. No matter what YOU face, you are not consumed. Because of His mercy and loving kindness, because His tender compassion do not fail. Whether it feels hopeless and you are facing financial hardships, health struggles, a horrendous break up, or you’ve made some mistakes you feel you can’t undo, His mercies are new every morning, His compassion for you is unceasing. His stability and faithfulness are as sure as the sunrise and nothing you’ve done, no failures nor hardships, can separate you from the love that He has for you. So as the author of Lamentations said, my prayer is that you would hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him. That just as we wait confidently through the night for the sun to rise, knowing that it will, we would live knowing that His mercy and grace in our lives was just as certain to come as the morning brings the sun. My friend, let this be your reminder today, your gentle reminder from Him, no matter what season you’re in, regardless of what you have done or what has been done to you, no matter how hard the night or difficult the season, He will be by your side, as sure as the sun will rise.
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