Mercy Like Morning: A 7-Day DevotionalSample

Cling to His Promise

We’ve all heard the well-meaning advice in the midst of struggling: try thankfulness. Renew your mind. Meditate on the promises of God. It’s so much easier said than done. For a while, during those years of waiting and grieving, I would meet with God in the morning, and the tears would be flowing by the afternoon. As hard as I tried and as much as I prayed… the sorrow was still there.

One night, I found myself on the floor of our walk-in closet and in the throes of an ugly cry. I felt like I was standing in line with the rest of the world, holding a tray, and waiting for my portion of life’s helpings. One by one, the people around me were served. Then they were going back for seconds. And thirds. And fourths. And I was still standing there with an empty bowl waiting for my first. Between sobs, in the darkness of that secret place upstairs, I whispered: You’ve forgotten me.

My faith knew He hadn’t. But part of me truly felt that way. And that disconnect between faith and feelings had been one of the more difficult hurdles of our entire waiting-journey.

The next morning, I read from Charles Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening devotional and God picked up where I left off in our night-before closet conversation:

When a tear is wept by thee, think not that God doth not behold; for ‘like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear Him’. Thy sigh is able to move the heart of Jehovah; thy whisper can incline His ear unto thee; thy prayer can stay His hand, thy faith can move His arm. Think not that God sits on high taking no account of thee. Remember that however poor and needy thou art, yet the LORD thinketh upon thee. For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards Him.

I ended my morning by digging into that faithfulness word at the end of Lamentations 3:23. It means firmness and security. But in specific regard to the context of that verse? It’s specifically a faithfulness in fulfilling promises.

Oh, the greatness of His glory.

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If you’ve enjoyed these devotions, adapted from Mercy Like Morning: Discovering Truth in Seasons of Waiting by Jane Johnson, and would like to learn more about how to dig your own well by intentionally studying Scripture, visit https://amzn.to/2vPI9T8