Steadfast Love and Endless Mercy

"She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies." (Lamentations 1:2) We got the call in the middle of night, mine was the only number she could remember. When we picked her up she slid into the back seat of the car so vulnerable, so full of sorrow, so very alone. She had made some bad choices and as a result she had isolated herself from both friends and family.

"If she could only learn to love herself everything would be so much better for her." I understood what was being said but I disagreed, I don't think it's self love that is the key that sets any of us free. I believe freedom is found when we stop trying to make excuses and simply accept the guilt for what we have done or failed to do. I believe that when we sit alone in the silence that it is only then that we might begin to hear the truth, "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases," (Lamentations 3:22) The key that sets us free is when we realize that the love of the LORD does not dependent on who we are but on who He is.

"His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."(Lamentations 3:23) There is a picture of this kind of mercy in the New Testament. It is in the story of when the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus who had been caught in the act of committing adultery. They dumped her like a bag of garbage in front of Jesus and then formed a circle around her and Jesus hoping they could condemn both of them.

"The LORD is my portion,' says my soul,' therefore I will hope in him."(Lamentations 3:24) They held the stones in their hands ready to condemn her but Jesus didn't say a word He simply bent down and wrote with His finger on the ground. "And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, 'Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.' And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground."(John 8:1-11) When Jesus stood up they were alone and He asked to the woman "Woman were are they? has no one condemned you?" She said, "NO one Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."

Lord Jesus, You are steadfast love and endless mercy. You were despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. Surely You have borne our grief and carried our sorrows. The woman caught in the act of adultery was not condemned because you were crushed for her iniquities and by Your stripes she was headed. Lord Jesus, please let me see the world through Your eyes. Let me always see myself as the one for whom You died.