Well-Disguised Mercies

“They are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23a).

Here is a word of hope for fearful saints. God’s mercies are brand-new every morning. Do you remember the story of the manna in the wilderness? God sent it every day (except on the Sabbath). He instructed the Jews to gather as much as they wanted because it would never run out. However, they weren’t to store it up (except on the day before the Sabbath so they could rest on the Sabbath). In order to drive home his point, God told them that if they stored it up, the maggots would come and spoil the manna. They were to gather enough for each day, eat it that day, and then gather more the next day (read Exodus 16 to get the whole story). By this means God taught his people to trust him day by day to meet their daily needs.

Consider what this means …

We never have to live on yesterday’s blessings. They are “new” every morning.

God’s blessings are never early but they aren’t late either. They are new “every morning.”

Today’s mercies are for today’s burdens. Tomorrow’s mercies will be for tomorrow’s problems.

Somewhere I read about Winston Churchill and his personal struggles during a hard period when he was Prime Minister of Great Britain. Hoping to console him, his wife suggested that his trouble was really a blessing in disguise. “If so, it is very well-disguised,’ he replied. Many of us no doubt feel the same way about our own problems. We see the trouble, but where is the blessing?

We wonder what will happen tomorrow. Will our health hold up or will we have a heart attack or a sudden stroke? Will we end up in a nursing home or waste away in a hospital? What about our children? Will they serve the Lord? What if something happens to them? Who will take care of us in our old age? Singles wonder if they will ever marry. Married couples look at all the divorces and wonder if they will make it. We all have concerns about our career choices and we wonder where we will be in ten years.

Let us learn the lesson of Lamentations 3:23. God’s mercies come day by day. They come when we need them—not earlier and not later. God gives us what we need today. If we needed more, he would give us more. When we need something else, he will give that as well. Nothing we truly need will ever be withheld from us. Search your problems and within them you will discover the well-disguised mercies of God