Text: Lamentations 3:16-26
“Bring us back to you, God — we’re ready to come back. Give us a fresh start.”
Lamentations 5:21, The Message
There is something so heartbreakingly refreshing about the book of Lamentations. The honesty is cutting, even depressing. “He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes” (v. 16). Granted, these are not exactly the inspirational words one hopes to encounter first thing in the morning – or any time of day, for that matter. But is this not how life feels sometimes?
Like this poet, we live in the tension of the life we live and the life we long for. The broken pieces are just part of the journey, and they cut us hard and deep. “I have forgotten what happiness is,” he says in verse 17. Perhaps you can relate.
God does not ask us to ignore our pain or to write off our unhappiness. He does not demand that we push back our longings or our desire for more – more peace, more belonging, more love, more rest. Of the many truths we learn from scripture, that God can handle our emotions, our messiness and our fragility is certainly one of them.
We can give Him our whole selves – our unedited, unfiltered reality. And do you know what He gives us in return? Mercy.
His mercies are new every morning.
His mercies never come to an end.
Mercy today as we wake. Mercy tonight when we sleep. Mercy tomorrow and the next day and the day after that.
Mercy.
Mercy.
Mercy.
From now until eternity, mercy from our Lord.
Oh Sisters, can you believe it? You must! It is the endless, everlasting, all-encompassing fresh start, and it is yours today.
Bring us back to you, God — we’re ready to come back. Give us a fresh start. Amen.
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60 thoughts on "an everlasting fresh start"
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This was much needed this morning, with life feels overwhelming the knowledge that Christ has such love for us and has shown us and continues to daily show us new mercies is truly refreshing to my soul. So I take rest in him in the Mercy and faithfulness of my God who loves me. Thank you Father that your great love is never ending your faithfulness is great your mercy is more than good. thank you for being our portions and so good. Continue to quite my spirit that I may learn from you and hear your voice.
Eres Hermoso Señor!
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I was very pleased to find this site.I wanted to thank you for this great read.. Broken Tooth
This is so heart warming. It links to the place of my reflection for today. It is a place for receiving healing and peace. God says He is the High and Exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy. He goes on to say that He lives in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the oppressed according to Isaiah 57:15 (HCSB).
No matter how we show up — God gives us MERCY! Amen
This is such good news and the antidote to never "hide" from Him when we have failed. "Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God." Nehemiah 9:31 ESV
Thank you, God, for your mercy. Thank you for a fresh start, every time, bringing me back to you. Thank you for my cracks and failures, thank you for my holes. Thank you for shining your light through them, showing me your unfailing love. Thank you for giving me your strong hand to pull me back up again, to shake off the dirt of fear, anxiety, worry, self-doubt, and absence of self love. Today, this very moment, is all that I have and all that matters. Thank you, God, for meeting me in this moment with mercy and LOVE.
I'm sort of late with a response because I've just started. P.S I'M SO HAPPY TO BE HERE. okay so this is what I needed to hear/read. For the past couple of months it seemed like unhappiness is all I felt. I started to feel worst because I kept saying to myself "Shy, how can u be a child of God and be so unhappy etc". I started to doubt myself and question my salvation. I had this mentality that God's children are to be perky all the time, boy was I wrong.but, now I've learnt that God truly loves me, he truly wants to help me, and cares about my everything, My crazy emotions and all. I give God praise for changing my thinking and helping me along my struggle.
Shy, I've been thinking about something similar – we aren't called to be happy, perky people with "Sunday smiles" as one sister mentioned earlier. We are called to an everlasting joy in the Lord, but that doesn't mean that we can't mourn and be sad.
You are absolutely right – He sure does care about your crazy emotions. He catches all of our tears, and loves us through all the pain.
Welcome, and I'm praying that 2014 will truly be a fresh start for you!
this sums up my 2013. longing for a fresh start in 2014. thanks for these words & Truth for my heart tonight. love.
This passage of Lamentations reminds me of when I was severely depressed a few years back in high school and even back to last summer when I got rejected from my dream college. I felt that hopelessness and “give up on God” feeling everyday for the longest time but I love when Jeremiah says as he remembers all the pain, “and remembering, I keep a grip on hope; God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,” Lamatations 3:21 (MSG). I never read this then, but it’s what the Spirit would remind me. No matter what happens in this life, God is consistent in his love for us and that’s enough to hold on to for me. That is so beyond encouraging!! God’s continual mercy through each day from the toils and snares, and he love to comfort us will keep hope in our hearts. I pray you ladies have a great Friday knowing you are deeply loved by God. God bless :)
Today I'm getting over the flu. I've felt the weight of those first four verses this week…on days when I've felt too weak to get out of bed and when my threat has felt like scorching sandpaper. This devotion is a timely reminder that He pours out mercy, steadfast love, and faithfulness…and His character does not change with our feelings. His mercy is brand new every time I open my eyes in the morning, and He never holds past failures against me as I start a new day. He is still there in sickness and pain, and it is still possible to hope in Him!
Thanks for the encouragement this morning. I can so identify with this because for the past two months I have been so discouraged as can be but just today the Holy spirit has been dealing with me about this fresh start and this confirms the word of God in my heart. Lord I thank you because you make all things beautiful in your time and you have the most perfect plan for me. luv u sisters.
Loved this entire Fresh Start series and I love how God always surprises me with what He teaches me – it is never what I expect when I begin a series with SRT. The faithful love of the Lord never ends…..so it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord. I thank God for this every. single. day. The trials in my life (and my family) have been great these past few years but this past year with the help of SRT I have learned to thank God for the trials – to ask Him to teach me through the trials – and that He can use me right where I am. It has been an amazing journey. I am in a place in my relationship with the Lord unlike anything I have ever known and I cannot wait to see what 2014 brings. So thanks SRT for YOUR faithfulness for continuing to allow God to use you as His vessel. I can tell by comments I am not the only life changed by your obedience and faithfulness. May God bless each of you this year tremendously.
Such an encouraging word, Michelle. Thank you! xo
"The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
The Lord is good to those who pwait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord."
-Lamentations 3:24-46
How true this has been in my life over the past season of it. Turning away from friendships and a few relationships God called me from last year put me in a heavy spot socially, and MANY times since the spring of last year, I've felt that sorrow, anguish, and heaviness in my bones about where I felt the Lord had allotted me. But how Good it has been to wait in quiet for the salvation of the Lord. To lift my head to heaven each morning and whisper, "I need you" and "bring me word of your unfailing love, papa." The Lord is my strength, my portion, my cup, my blessing; this peace that comes along with waiting quietly and really resting in the love and promises of the Lord is beyond human understanding. I wrote about it in a song devotional on my blog: http://graceandphysics.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/n….
This song really does speak of how Christ has been absolutely everything to me; how He truly has been my portion, my only escape, and "my only embrace." Bless you sisters. Have a wonderful Friday.
Your words here mirror my heart. Last year, at the beginning of 2013, He called me from the church I had been attending for 2 years, and away from the ministry leader position I had been filling. He called me to a new place, with no friends, no position, and no roots to establish. Though I thought 'how can this be?' I can fully and clearly see now that He placed me in fertil soil, to heal, strengthen and grow me, so that He could up root me and plant me in a new vineyard in 2014. The church He blessed us with for the last year is a great church, though I grew immensely, my spirit never connected. Now I see why….. He knew a year ago what we didnt know a year ago. We are moving out of state.
I say all of that to let you know that I understand the 'turning away from frienships' and 'being put in a heavy spot socially'. I have felt all that you have felt. He heaviness, sorrow and anguish. And you are so right when you say the Lord is my strength, my portion, my cup, my blessing – I need you! I feel as though you have captured the words my heart was unable/unwilling to speak. Thank you my friend, for revealing a bit of humanity in yourself, which reminded me that I am not alone – and He is enough.
Your words are so encouraging. I feel as if I haven't fully connected to any church body either, and so hearing that all things have happened for a true reason fills me with hope. Thank you!
Amen! Thank You Lord for Your new mercies everyday. I have a young lady in my life who just lost the father of her two young children. She is in the depths of despair and needs prayer. I am going to share these verses and this post with her. May I ask anyone who reads this to please pray for Ashley, Alex, and Lilly? Thank you.
Praying, Erin!
Lifting up this precious family to the Lord..Erin….praying also for the right time and opportunity to share this amazing deck and verses with your friend…God bless and be with you all. X
Prayed for your dear friend and her precious family
I'm so grateful for this post this morning! There are times that I feel, especially as a woman, that I tend to write off my feelings and later have a one-woman pity party. Verses 19-22 reminds me of how I used to be, but it took a few wake up calls from God to make me realize that I MUST BE WILLING TO WAIT ON GOD and realize that everything will be okay because of His mercy. Today's plan has touched my heart in many ways, and my heart is so full and without words. Verses 23-26 just confirms that waiting on Him is more rewarding than trying to accomplish anything on my own. Glory to His name!!
"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed …" I'm so thankful that our God has such a great love for us! And that these verses aren't about the Lord's great wrath and how we will be consumed by it because of the ways we fail him over and over again. Instead, we get new compassions every morning!?! Definitely undeserved. Definitely from a place of mercy. Definitely because of His great love!
I have learned that waiting on the Lord brings about contentment even at the height of my unrest. When it seems as though everything is going wrong and I feel like I am wandering, the dust settles and a peace surrounds me when I choose to rest in God and wait on Him. Somedays it is easy to do so and some days I am stubborn and grow tired trying to do things my own way, but the restoration and healing that comes from resting in God always proves to be life-giving and reliable. I hope you all have a lovely Friday! :)
Kyla, I can relate to some days grow tired and trying to do things my way. But when I seek God and wait on Him, I always walk away feeling a bit closer to Him. Thanks for the reminder! I need to remember that His ways are always better, even if it means I must wait in silence; even if it means I must wait alone or walk through feelings of pain.
Amen to what both of you, Molly and Kyla, said. God's ways are better. Praise Him for his true peace.
Thank you, Jesus. Thank you that I can give it all to You. thank you for Your mercy.
Awesome passage. I really needed this today. “Certainly the faithful love of The Lord hasn’t ended; certainly Gods compassion isn’t through!” V 22. Praise God for new mercies and a fresh start everyday! Have a blessed new day!
This passage serves as such a great reminder. It is easy… So easy, to focus on the negative in the world or the negative emotions in ourselves. Taking a second to look outward instead of at the inner turmoil reminds us that He is alway with us no matter what. It is ok to acknowledge the bad things, but rejoice in knowing that His mercy is everlasting and the bad gets better. God is great! Thanks for sharing this devotional!
“God does not ask us to ignore our pain or write of our unhappiness.” How comforting it was to read this. He has been faithful thru this past year, a season of sorrow, hurt and despair; not in God, but Gods church. My church turned its back on me because they didn’t want to deal with my hurt. They would rather I paste on my Sunday smile and act as if everything is okay. But God has been faithful and walked with me. But I constantly question myself and feel condemnation because of the way the church treats me. It’s so good to know that God allows me To be real, even when it’s tough. Thanks for sharing this passage and devotion!
Praying for you! May God find you a fellowship of genuine, loving people, who are willing to love you in any state you're in! We love you here and are here for you.
My slate is clean again this morning. Praise God.
How do we get people who Don't know Jesus to believe this. I want to share these verses with a struggling young man, but he doesn't believe in God. He is spitting out the gravel of life and is searching, but won't look to the truths he learned in his youth. Let him see my life, full of God's new beginnings in me.
Praying that this young man would see Christ in you, Laurie. Blessings.
I often read in The Voice version of the Bible, and this morning I chose to read this poem from there and verses 22 & 23 jumped out at me:
How enduring is God’s loyal love;
the Eternal has inexhaustible compassion.
Here they are, every morning, new!
Your faithfulness, God, is as broad as the day.
How blessed we are with his compassion & faithfulness. As I awaken each day he is there waiting just to pour it out on me. Praise God!
Wow, what an encouraging passage! No matter what troubles we experience, “because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail” (verse 22). I’ve been deprived of peace and I’ve been deprived of hope. And I’ve even had the nerve to get angry with God and ask Him “why” and “when.” But when I finally get over myself and listen for God, He reminds me that He has a perfect plan. I’m so grateful for His everlasting mercies. Praise God! Be blessed ladies.
Waiting quietly and remembering the blessings of free will.
I LOVE Lamentations 3:21-26! It's one of my key verses right now that I have memorized to say when i'm feeling hopeless and when I feel like all is lost. And then I remember God's promises. And sometimes it takes several times for me to say the verse, so that I'm not just reciting words, but actually realizing what God is saying to me through those words. And even though the pain can still be very fresh and hurt, I know God is there and he has not left me or abandoned or forgotten about me.
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me.
AMEN.
Hallelujah! Thank you Lord for speaking to me through this post. It is really hard to grasp just how much He loves us during the times when we don't even love ourselves. Help me Lord to love myself the way you do. Help me to believe in your new mercies for me everyday! In Jesus name amen.
Beautiful!! Amen!
As I’m sitting here reading this I feel the weight on me. I’ve been through a long season this past year of waiting, stress, heart break, tears and most of all finding God. Through this trial I’ve had days where all I can feel is despair and anger and wonder when will God fulfill his promise? Other days I’m so filled with love from him and know that all this will work out for his Glory. I know he’s teaching me patience and to fully rely on him. My OCD personality doesn’t often let me release my control. Gods simply showing me that he is the mighty healer. The ultimate restorer. He will make all things new. This lesson today is a humble reminder that even through the suffering and hopelessness. He will show up and he will take care of me. “Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. ” Lamentations 3:32
Beautiful! I am in the same position. So much has happened over the past 4 months in my life. I literally feel like the verse “He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes” – I feel as low as I can go yet the verse you stated "Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. " is a wonderful reminder that He will never leave us nor forsake us!
Yes! Katie I can totally relate. Just over these past few months, MANY things have changed in my life and most of them have been really hard to handle and cope with. But that's only when I'm not looking at Christ, straight in front of me, and on the world, all around me. The verse, "The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (vs 24) really resonates with me, and the word portion has become a huge word for me over many days of grief and sorrow. In those moments, when I look to God… I realize that He is my portion: my blessing, my EVERYTHING, my only good thing in this existence, my lot in life, my rescuer and healer, my lover of my soul. He is my only embrace. Knowing all this is what strengthens my soul.
thank you ladies for being being such an encouragement to me. This passagewas such an amazing reminder to mr of being outwardly focused.Often times when things don't go my way or it is a hard time, I become so selfish and focus on myself. I must get the focus off myself and onto Christ daily!
Amen! I need to do this as well. I need to remember. I know it, but I don't do it.
Lamentations 3:21-23 were the first verses that The Holy Spirit brought to my mind eight years ago after I heard of the passing of my parents in a drunk driving accident. They brought the hope and confidence I needed to believe that I would make it through the hardest time of my life. So thankful for that scripture!
So thankful for His mercies when I need them! No matter our struggles, He is there.
Sometimes as we wait we lose hope. We (I) must remember that wait and hope must remain together. Also that our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. There's nothing better to build on than that!
Sweetdes. . This is So so true. Our hope is truly built on nothing less… Thank God.AMEN. x
This message is just what I needed this morning. I was anxious and worried, but I have been reminded, yet again, that everything will work out because God is in control and is looking out for me…and everyone else.
AMEN, Debbie. AMEN. X
Last night I got some very good news that I've been waiting years to receive. This passage was exactly what I needed this morning– the news was not of my doing, it was God's. All along, I have been saying (regarding this issue) that God wants me to wait on him and has been reliable to provide for me in the meanwhile. But now that I have what I needed, it was easy to feel like the accomplishment was mine. It is not, this was God's work. "I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."
Sisters, the Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him. Thank God for that!
This is an incredible scripture passage and reminder this morning at how much The Lord walks with us through those times, never abandoning us. This is the true meaning of heartbreakingly refreshing. When we look at Lamentations so often we focus on the difficult times, but the message is so clear we must yearn to come back to The Lord.
I love the last verse Lamentations 3:26 NIV
it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord .
So often we don’t make time to sit and wait quietly for the Lord. We miss what he wants to say to us. To be reminded of our fresh start renewed every morning and to be greatful of our salvation!