“But then I remember something that fills me with hope.  The Lord’s kindness never fails!  If He had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed.  The Lord can always be trusted to show mercy each morning.  Deep in my heart I say, ‘The Lord is all I need, I can depend on Him.’  The Lord is kind to everyone who trusts and obeys Him.  It is good for us to wait patiently for the Lord to save us.”

I needed to be reminded of my memory verse this morning.  Such a good verse to have memorized.  In the face of all sorts of changes: job loss, doing ministry, walking by faith, doing something scary that you know the Lord told you to do but you still feel a little scared to jump out there and do it, seemingly incessantly irritating and frustrating moments in my day, being kind in very mean situations and relentless people, disappointing times and disappointing people, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, addiction, death.  SO many opportunities to despair.  OR

Then I remember something that fills me hope.  The Lord’s KINDNESS NEVER FAILS!  If He had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed.  The Lord can ALWAYS be trusted to show MERCY EACH MORNING.  Deep in my heart I say, ‘The Lord is all I need.  I CAN DEPEND ON HIM.’  The Lord is kind to everyone who trusts and obeys Him.  It is GOOD for us to wait patiently for the Lord to save us.

Playtime is over.  As Dr. Crawford Loritts said,”We’ve got to go beyond the cliches of our faith, beyond inspirational talks, and live in the book.” This walk . . . this walk is not a game.  I have a real enemy who always shows up to play hard, as if He has a great chance at winning.  But not this time.  I take a deep breath.  Say it as many times as I need to.  Squeeze my eyes tight, clench my fists together and command my mind and my heart to receive it.  Everything, yes, EVERYTHING is going to be all right (that’s right, ALL RIGHT).  This is but a moment that satan tried to use to scare me, distract me and steal my faith.  But not this time. Because . . .

Then I remember something that fills me with hope.  The Lord’s kindness never fails!  If He had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed.  The Lord can always be trusted to show mercy each morning.  Deep in my heart I say, ‘The Lord is all I need.  I can depend on Him.’  The Lord is kind to everyone who trusts and obeys Him.  It is good for us to wait patiently for the Lord to save us.  ~Lamentations 3:21-26 (CEV)

Amen.