Monday, February 11, 2008

How Great Is Your Love

I had one of those mornings that was just tough. And it wasn't even dawn.

Sitting down with my cup of coffee, I started talking with God. Except I kept getting distracted. My to-do list, my day, and all kinds of tasks kept nagging at me.

Not to mention the fact that I felt like I was failing. At Everything. Again. Mother, wife, friend, ministry, discipline...and on. And on. And on.

I wanted to ask God for mercy in so many areas of life, but felt guilty for asking him yet again. I mean, really, could I be any needier? I know I could ask, but still...It was one of those days where I felt I just needed to BUCK UP and walk in the truth without pleading for reassurances from Christ.

To ask for God's comfort and support again felt ridiculous. How could I doubt his goodness and ask him to give me more than he already has?

Then I read this:

Psalm 108:1-4
My heart is steadfast, O God;
I will sing praises with all my soul.
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
I will praise You, O LORD, among the peoples;
I will sing of You among the nations.
Your merciful love is higher than the heavens;
and your truth reaches to the skies.

And I looked out the window to see a teeny, horizontal sliver of pink outlining the morning sky. Just a little bit of color...enough for me to say, "Jesus, thank you for literally showing me your mercy in the skies. I do best with literal, Jesus, and you know that."

Then I closed my eyes for another minute and read those verses and just sat there...praying, asking, and even singing for his mercy to fall on me again.

When I opened my eyes, I saw this:

And this:
That little tiny sliver of pink had grown and grown and filled the morning sky.
And I remembered...Your merciful love is higher than the heavens and your truth reaches the sky.
I have every reason to believe that sunrise was His reassurance that I can't need more love, truth, and mercy than he provides. He is downright abundant beyond my wildest dreams.

At which point I ran, got the camera, and started snapping photos while freezing to death in my pajamas on the back deck. The tears froze to my face, which was a nice bonus.

And it reminded me of this song by Mercy Me. If you haven't downloaded it yet, do it. And praise your heart out.

5 comments:

Robin said...

What an awesome experience, Nicole! I love when God does those things, just to remind us :o)

Mandie said...

Love it! What beautiful pictures! Your post reminded me of something I read "We learn to be victorious by surrendering our lives to God, not by gritting our teeth and trying harder." Asking for His mercy was just the surrender you needed...how abundantly He answered.

Anonymous said...

I am at this very moment shedding some tears myself...amazing

Lisa said...

Thank you for sharing that, it was very powerful to read.

Meg said...

wow -- i just stumbled across your blog while doing my usual a.m. surfing. actual tears are in my eyes -- i apparently needed to read that! thanks