Great is Thy Faithfulness

So, for those of you who do not know this song... look it up, seriously! I stole a hymn book from my dad before he left for Georgia. And, I like to randomly find songs in it and sing them to Isaiah before I put him to bed at night. Of course, being raised in church, I already knew this song, but I love it, so I decided to sing it to Isaiah Saturday night.

Part of the lyrics say:

... morning by morning new mercies I see...

Well, I started thinking about how I can relate to that (although I am completely convinced that Jesus' mercies are new every morning). And, I thought of a mother and her relationship with her newborn (or in my case 5 month old) baby. Saturday, Isaiah happened to be CRYING because he DID NOT want to go to sleep. I was getting frustrated because 1. He NEEDS to sleep 2. I NEED to sleep 3. He was crying FOREVER (okay, like 30 minutes).

Anyway, Isaiah, although technically innocent, was in his own way, complaining and fighting me trying to put him to sleep. We are like this with Jesus (minus the sleep). I wanted and needed Isaiah to go to sleep. Jesus wants us to turn to Him. He wants us to follow him. And oftentimes we are complaining and fighting against it.

So, the next step was sleep for baby Isaiah. He finally did what he needed to do, and what I desperately wanted him to do... SLEEP! Well, we are SO much like that. Although we complain and fight Jesus' plans for our lives... we often end up doing what He wants us to do! Even if we happen to take the long road like Isaiah took the long road to sleep.

HOWEVER... the most important part of this incredibly long story... Well, Isaiah woke up Sunday morning to a fresh start. I was no longer frustrated, I was, I guess you could say, merciful. One definition of mercy is: a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion. No matter how much Isaiah fought me, I continued to love him. He did not neccessarily NEED to play and rock and eat (just fed him... don't worry he's not starving). I didn't have to continue to do these things. I could have laid him in his crib and let him cry. I didn't have to sing to him. I didn't have to say anything... BUT I DID.

After rebelling against OUR SAVIOR, we do not deserve life. We don't deserve God's blessings. After going the long route (think Jonah and Ninevah), we don't deserve things to work out for the good because ultimately we did not obey! But, EVERY SINGLE MORNING, our Lord gives us NEW MERCIES. He does not change his mind and revoke our salvation. He does not strike us dead with a bolt of lightning. He continues to love us... LOVE us. He continues to be faithful, to save, to work things together for our good, to use us to glorify him...

Think about it. This is the God I serve.