Do you ever get peckish and go to the cupboard to grab a jar of peanut butter and bread, then go the fridge and get some jelly to make a PB&J only to discover there is not enough peanut butter to make a quarter of a sandwich much less a whole one. So, now a little “peeved” bug bites you and now you are no longer peckish, you’re hangry! That is a little bit of the way I feel about today being April 30th, the end of the month, and there is no more on the calendar, where did it all go?
Peanut butter jars get emptied, months run out of days, but the good news for today is, God’s mercies are new every morning!
“Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish,
For His mercies never end.
They are new every morning;
Great is they faithfulness!
I say, the Lord is my portion,
therefore I will put my hope in Him.”
– Lamentations 3:22-24
When we go to God’s spiritual cupboard because we are hungry for Him and His Word, His mercies jar is always full! His mercies are new every morning. Mercies is also translated as compassions, which in the Hebrew pictures a deep, kindly sympathy and sorrow felt for another who has been struck with affliction or misfortune, accompanied with a desire to relieve the suffering. (AMG’s Annotated Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary of the Old Testament, 7355) God’s mercies or compassions are extended to His own for their well-being and it is done because of His faithful love. So, as the days wear long with all this covid-19 stuff and you are beginning to despair go to the Lord, His cupboard will not disappoint. Also keep in mind Jeremiah wrote that the Lord is his portion. I like that because with all the temporary things in life, we are never sure if there is enough, but with the Lord as my portion it always be what is needed. Mesh that together with His mercies and you’ll be spiritually satisfied.
Back to the peanut butter and the cupboard. When you think all is lost and that your hanger will consume you, someone comes in and says, “there’s more peanut butter in the cupboard, you just have to look for it.” Sure enough, after moving a few things around you find a new jar of peanut butter and its even the crunchy kind that you like. We need to pursue God and His compassions even when they are not quickly seen or experienced. In some instances, we must continue seek His mercies the Word, or in prayer, or in worship. God is not playing a game with us, but because He wants to develop the discipline of perseverance in pursuing Him as our only means of mercies and spiritual satisfaction. Are God’s mercies empty? No, they’re new and abundant every morning!