All-inclusive

You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

New Every Morning

We went on a family vacation one year to Jamaica. It was so much fun, and every day around three o’clock it would begin to pour, and the Jamaicans would then get off duty from the waterslides, and they would come onto the beach, and we would play soccer in the rain. My heart was smiling bigger than my face could. The sweetest lady braided my hair one day, and there would be some days when we lay on the beach and other days when we went snorkeling. We took family pictures one evening at sunset and found starfish in the Caribbean. It was absolutely beautiful.

I have to tell you, though, that one of the best parts about this trip was that it was all-inclusive, meaning that the soft-serve ice cream was unlimited. When we woke up, we could get ice cream. When we wanted a snack, we could go get ice cream. Before we went to bed, we could go get ice cream. It was already paid for, and the amount that we could have was endless. Ice cream was always available to us.

God’s mercies are like this in a sweet way. “His mercies . . . are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23, ESV), and they are all-inclusive and always available to us. He gives them to us as a gift. When we wake up in the morning, His mercies are there to greet us with compassion that never fails.

Undeserved

Mercy means not receiving the punishment that we very well deserve to receive—it means we receive an undeserved pardon instead! God is compassionate and gracious. He is slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness (Psalm 86:15). We do not deserve this love and mercy, but in His kindness, God greets us with it from His heart every day. To sin means to miss the mark of perfection or to fall short, and according to His Word, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). This sin is worthy of death and complete separation from God because He is holy and perfect and cannot be in the presence of sin, but through the perfect sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, we are rescued from the outcome of death and separation from Him.

We were not made to live in shame. Because of His mercies that are new every morning, we do not have to be consumed with the ways of this world or by desires that do not please Him. We live in a broken world, and it is easy to get wrapped up in the chaos of it. It is easy to be hindered and entangled in the distractions, but because of His mercies we can take a deep breath in Him. Rather than being hindered, let His mercies launch you forward in life and forgiveness (Hebrews 12:1-3). Instead of being entangled, let Him embrace you in His strong and compassionate arms that are upholding you and will never let you go.

Dancing with God

Our relationship with God is the most beautiful of dances. Just as a little girl stands on her daddy’s toes in the kitchen while they dance together, so we stand on the toes of our Heavenly Father and dance with Him. And just as the little girl is not dancing in her own strength but, rather, in the strength of every step her father takes, so it is that we cannot dance on our own, but our strength comes from every step taken by our Heavenly Father. We breathe in His mercies, He sweeps us off our feet, and we continue to dance in Him. We never have to fear that this strength and comfort will desert us, because His mercies never fail. They are always available to us because nothing in all of creation can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:37-39).

If we were to trace the steps of a dance, more than likely it would not form a straight line. Some days we take three steps forward in our walk with God, the next day we may take two steps backward, and the next day may look like a step to the side. Our dance with God is not going to be a perfect and straight line, but because of His mercies, we are not consumed by the days when it feels like we are making no progress. We can know that He is upholding us every step that we take.