Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. –Lamentations 3:21-23
As we consider this New Year, 2017, this verse resonates. It speaks of 1) hope centered in the Lord’s great love and compassion. I spent much of 2016 placing my hope, worth, and even sanity in fleeting things. Much of my weariness and anxiety in 2016 comes from misplaced hope. It speaks of 2) the newness of each day. God’s mercy and compassion are offered every day, a clean slate, a blank canvas, a new year. Redemption and transformation are possibilities because of God’s mercy. 2017 is loaded with potential and I am excited. Finally it speaks of 3) the faithfulness of God. God’s mercies are new and yet old at the same time. His faithfulness is historic and venerable. The faithfulness of God is a stabilizing force in my quickly changing world. Because of this, we are not consumed. May you call these things to mind as you start the New Year: hope, love, compassion, newness, and the faithfulness of God. Blessings.
Jared Doe