Like Water in the Morning

I drink a cup (or two) of water every morning, before I take breakfast in any form.

I gulp it down as I wait for the water to boil and I get my kids ready for school. I read in passing that the body is dehydrated and all that water will help to flush out toxins, waste matter and all that. *shrug* Maybe that helps explain my kid-like face after all these years?

Whenever I drink the water, I feel like it’s a clean slate, a fresh start to the day, as if all my dietary transgressions of yesterday have been wiped out. I’ve now got today to eat right. Over the past year or so I’ve grown very careless with my diet. Because I am usually traveling around all day for work, I end up eating fast food, sometimes even up to 5 times a week. It’s not good for me, and I know it. So the morning water is a symbol to me, that maybe, just maybe, today is the day I can start getting things right?

Likewise, sometimes we need spiritual symbols to tell us the same thing, that our sins and failures of yesterday (and last week, last month, last year and so on…) need not hold us back today. Today we have a clean slate, a fresh start with God, so maybe today is the day we can start getting things right?

Lamentations 3:22-24 (NIV) - 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. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Because God himself is faithful to us, we have hope. We can believe that God can rescue us from the pit that we are trapped in, whether it’s bondage to sin, tribulations or other stuff.

Lamentations 3:55-57 (NIV) - I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.” You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.”

God’s compassions towards us are renewed every morning. That is true even in the midst of afflictions. But we need to be deliberate in recalling his mercy and his faithfulness. The passage in Lamentations 3, just before the first Scripture we looked at, say:

Lamentations 3:19-21 (NIV) - I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.

When we are suffering, remembering the suffering is easy. It grips our minds and our souls relentlessly. People can end up addicted to drugs or alcohol during such seasons, because all they want is some temporary relief from remembering the pain. It takes deliberate and disciplined effort (“This I call to mind) to remember the goodness of God. We see this in the Psalms too, where the psalmist has to force himself to hope in God.

Psalm 42:11 (NIV) - Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Notice how the psalmist speaks firmly to his soul here? In my personal experience, it is not enough to just think happy thoughts, or even holy thoughts. I had to open my lips and speak to my soul.

What is our reason for hope and courage?

Lamentations 3:24 (NIV) - I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Say it to your soul right now, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Say it again. And again, until you really believe it!

What happens when we know the LORD is our portion? We experience his presence and are open to being guided by him. We know we have a glorious destiny in him. Our desires for the temporal things of this world fade and our hearts are strengthened. Consider this:

Psalm 73:23-26 (NIV) - Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Conclusion:
If you are facing a tough season, whether from external trials or your own internal struggles with sin, may I be the bearer of unpleasant news? You won’t feel better, you won’t get stronger, the problems won’t go away, without YOU rising up and taking charge over them. Your soul, your emotions, will NOT settle down unless you do something about them. And the “something” I am talking about here is NOT numbing your soul with drink, TV or K-pop videos on Youtube. 

I’m talking about speaking the Word of God to your soul, remembering the goodness of God and his faithfulness. If the troubles are heavy, you should even look for regular times during the day when you will habitually remind yourself of God’s compassion and faithfulness. For example, I have tied in certain household chores with my daily confession of Scripture. You can do the same, you just need to find daily events or moments to meditate on the Scripture.

And the good news is, when you take charge over the problems, to shake of the despondency, the guilt and condemnation, the hopelessness and depression, your spirit starts rising up. Your courage and hope starts to seep into your mind and heart. You realize that you can have peace even in the midst of the storm, you can rejoice even during the trials.

Be blessed!