| In Your Struggle, God’s Love and Mercy Continue |
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| By Rick Warren — Jul 18, 2015 |
“The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison. I think of it constantly, and my spirit is depressed. Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: 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 3:19-24 TEV)
When your world is falling apart, it’s so easy to focus on the pain, the problems, the pressure, and the difficulties. It’s the natural response. But the biblical response is to turn your focus to God’s love.
Even though you’re mad at God, you need to remind yourself how much he loves you. Focus on his unconditional love. Remember that you can’t make God stop loving you. You can complain, yell at him, and scream at him, but he will still love you forever.
You can see this biblical approach in Jeremiah’s life in Lamentations 3:19-24. Jeremiah starts out focused on his pain: “The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison. I think of it constantly, and my spirit is depressed” (TEV). Jeremiah was consumed by the devastation around him; it filled his thoughts and made him bitter and depressed.
If you want to change your life, you have to change your thoughts. So that’s what Jeremiah did. We see the mental switch in the next verse: “Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: 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.”
God loves you. He is not the strict parent that you couldn’t please. He is not the imperfect parent with weaknesses and faults who messed up. He is God — the eternal, all knowing, infallible God who created you to love you and will never leave you.
So when you feel like you’ve lost everything, stop focusing on what’s lost and start focusing on what’s left: God and his love for you.
Talk It Over
- What are some ways you have seen God’s love and mercy expressed in your life?
- What are some practical steps you can take to help change your thought pattern to focusing on God’s love?
- Why do you think God allows us to go through loss and pain?
| Today’s Scripture |
“There is one who scatters, yet increase more...”
(Proverbs 11:24, NKJV) |
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| Increase More |
In the book of Genesis, God set up a system of seedtime and harvest. Everything God does starts with a seed. The Bible also tells us that He gives seed to the sower. In other words, if you are a person who has a desire to bless others and sow seed, God will make sure you have plenty to give. Notice what happens when you generously sow seed—you increase more! Just like planting a seed in the natural brings an abundant harvest, planting a spiritual seed brings an abundant harvest as well. You can’t outgive God. He will pour out blessings on you that you cannot even contain.
God’s blessings go way beyond just the financial realm. He wants you to have blessed relationships, good health and a happy career. Take a step of faith today and look for ways to start sowing. What do you have in your hand? Can you start by giving a smile and sowing joy? Can you help someone else at the gas pump? Choose to be a blessing because God promises to bless and increase you in every area of your life.
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| A Prayer for Today |
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| “Father, today I choose to be a sower and giver. Help me to see the people around me the way You see them so that I can bless them the way You want to bless them in Jesus’ name. Amen.” |
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