New Every Morning
April 17, 2008 by Ruth
…my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.”
Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”…For the lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.
…Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?
…Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord!”
(Lamentations 3: 17-24, 31-33, 37-38, 40)
My darkest, most despairing moments are always outcroppings of tenacious sin beneath the surface. Sin that is not as obvious as immorality, abusive speech, or deceit; but sin that is equally destructive. Sin that takes shape in discontentment, complaining, fear, striving in the flesh, not rejoicing, not praising…sin that renders me apathetic and spent. Yesterday was one such day where my sinfulness collided with my perception of overwhelming circumstances to produce the greatest of despair and sadness. As I fell upon the Lord’s mercy, and pleaded with Him to produce within me an unrivaled love for Him, I was answered with the “steadfast love of the Lord,” described in Lamentations 3. Yet, the context in Lamentations 3 is not comfort and ease, but that of pain and inner-conflict; that of surrender and repentance. Great is His faithfulness! Though He disciplines and chastens, though He may at times seem silent, He calls us to repentance and, as with Israel, He keeps His promises and gives hope to the weary soul.
, and am enjoying the opportunity to teach and disciple my children at home. When not busy with family, I love to paint, sew, garden, host teas, cook, play the piano, mentor younger ladies, and redecorate my girlfriends' homes.
New every morning! Wow! Baobei, I am so thankful that I talked to you in the phone today before I read this article. I am so proud of you, my daughter, and I am just so very very thankful that we trust the same LORD.
I have just finished translating the book of Lamentations this afternoon (from Hebrew to Chinese), and feeling an incredibly deep peace in my soul. I then thought of you, and prayed for you and gave you a call and now I just finished reading this beautiful article of yours. My dearest sweetheart, the Lord has made you such an authentic person; you are so real and faithful before the Lord, just as He is to you.
Thirty two years ago, you came to this world and became my first “serious” love. All these years, I have been learning to be a better mother and am still trying. I have learned that the more I love Jesus spritually (agapa), the more I am able to love my beloved ones fleshly (eros).
Baobei, the darkest time has passed in mama’s life (prayerfully), and He who saved me is the One who delivered me and is also the One who disciplined me. His steadfast love and His mercies are new every morning, and these are exactly what kept me from sinning with discontentment, complaining, fear, pride, self-pity……
Every morning, I first praise Him and confess any of my obvious or hidden sin. Did I tell you that my Chinese writer’s name Chen Hua is from Lamentations 3:22-23? You know “Chen” sounds like “morning”, right? So, Chen Hua is a little flower in the morning, which is called morning glory, and which is a kind of flower that praises the Lord first thing in the morning every morning. These two verses have been feeding my soul during my darkest days years ago and is still
feeding my soul every morning.
So thankful that we are being fed by the same word of God and so surprisingly happy that you picked one of my favorite verses today.
Mama will continue lift you up in my prayers, we will walk together with our precious and wonderful Lord Jesus Christ, until we see Him in person.
Love you, my baobei, my sweetest daughter, my best friend!
Sorry, misspelled “spiritually” and “agape”.
Thank you for posting this beautiful entry. Such deep insight you have! Please keep praying for my friends who have the preemie baby (who is not doing well, I’m sad to say… please pray for Esther)
~KH
ps… how wonderful to have such a great comment from your mother. You are blessed!
Beautiful post, and such sweetness from your Mama. How wonderful.