I'm so glad that God's compassion towards me never fails. Should it? Yes. Yes I think it should when I fail in the same area time and time again. But it does not.
The scripture says that it's because of His never-failing compassion that I'm not consumed. Compassion defined is this: "a feeling of wanting to help someone who is sick, hungry, in trouble, etc." Or how about this definition: "Deep awareness of the suffering of another accompanied by the wish to relieve it."
Jesus is aware of our suffering. He is aware of our need. He is aware when we are sick, when we are hungry. He is aware of the times that we are in trouble, whether by our own doing or by the hand of trouble coming through a situation perhaps totally out of our control. He is completely and absolutely aware. And regardless of how we react to what is trying to consume us, be it need or trouble, His compassion will not allow Him to hold it over our head. Furthermore, His compassion will cause Him to move because He desires to relive our suffering.
I had a talk with my daughter Lily last night, who just turned 7. She has a wonderful concept of God and her spirit is so exciting to watch grow; I'm often challenged by her in my own spiritual walk. But she said something at school the other day that she was not proud of; she didn't want to say it but was influenced by a 6th grader to say the word "jerk." Yes folks, my daughter said the word jerk. I better check her into therapy stat! Bless her heart she was so upset with herself for saying it. So she shared with me last night that at bedtime she told God she was sorry for saying it. And then last night she felt the need to confess it to us! So we had a great talk about grace and that our sin being washed away the moment we ask for it to be. And that was that, she moved on.
Oh that we could do the same thing, just move on. Accept the fact that God's grace is greater than all of our sin. The moment we ask Him to forgive us is the moment that He does. We don't have to wait for a certain amount of time to pass for the forgiveness to be made final. There is no cooling off period when it comes to grace! God won't revoke it from us. Why? Because His never-failing compassion won't allow Him to!
So when you find yourself in need of grace, when the devil seems to be doing a number on your mind, beating you down with condemnation over your sin, remember this verse in Lamentations. Every single morning there is a fresh batch of mercy on our doorstep. Let's pick up that mercy and take a shower in it! Allow the never-failing compassion of God to absolutely drench you this morning. And then take that mercy and show it to someone else! Don't keep it to yourself...or you might be a jerk ;)
