And it is! I
can’t tell you how many times I’ve lain my head down in total defeat at night
only to awaken in the morning with a fresh outlook. I have come to love James’
words of comfort and encouragement. I find myself telling my kids the same
thing when late night chats expose emotions, occurrences, obstacles, and
ordinary relationships and responsibilities that have them feeling they just
may not make it. I can totally relate, so I tell them what James tells me, “Get
some sleep. It will all be better in the morning.”
Once again my
self-proclaimed simple guy has encapsulated profound truth in a simple
statement, and guess what? It’s biblical! It occurred to me the other day that
the Bible speaks to this specifically at least twice.
In Lamentations
3:22-24,
the prophet Jeremiah comforts himself, saying, “Through the LORD's mercies we are
not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great
is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope
in Him!’”
We will
not come to our end because His deep love, mercy, and tender affection will not
come to an end. They are fresh at the break of each new day. The kind of
renewable that truly sustains. And because His compassions fail not, the end of
our rope is not the end of our hope!
In Psalm 30:5, David
declares,
“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” We may pass the
night distraught, deeply grieving, or crying out in desperation, but when day
breaks, it’s time to be overcome with rejoicing. It’s time to break out in a
shout for joy!
What if we
don’t feel like it the next morning?
Do it anyways! We can’t let feelings regulate our faith or our obedience. As
Paul exhorts in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say,
rejoice!” Then in verses six and seven, he instructs us, “Be anxious for
nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let
your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Praise
brings peace. Do you see it? And as we rejoice in Him with each new day, His
provision, presence, and peace are enough for that day.
God’s
provision comes every morning, just as it did for the Israelites in Exodus.
They have just embarked on their wilderness journey and complain against Moses
because of their hunger. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain
bread from heaven for you. and the people shall go out and gather a certain
quota every day’” (Exodus 16:4). When the dew lifted, God’s provision was
there, and the Israelites were to gather each according to their need for THAT
DAY. No more, and no less. And that’s just what God gives us for our days, too.
Notice, God
sent the manna, but the Israelites had to gather it before it could satisfy
their hunger. He gave them the ingredient. They had to make it into food. As He
provides for our every day, we have to do our part in applying His provision to
our responsibilities. Here are some of the things I do when anxiety overwhelms
me:
1.
I pray, telling God every little thing that’s
churning in my mind and heart. We are told to cast our cares on Him (I Peter
5:7). Literally, throw our anxieties – those things that make us feel divided
and disjointed – upon God, “for He cares for you.”
2.
When anxiety threatens to split my head, I will write
my prayers in a journal to God. Transferring them to paper helps me place them
securely in the hands of God.
3.
At night, I’ll read my Bible until I can’t keep
my eyes open any longer, training my thoughts on Him and not on my troubles.
4.
If I’m overwhelmed with things I have to do,
before I go to bed, I’ll write out a schedule for the next day and prioritize my
tasks. I note my commitments first, which reveals windows of time in which I
can tackle a few tasks. This system helps me to be realistic about what I can
accomplish with the time I have. Next, I choose the most important jobs and
assign them to my day first. Another trick I learned when I was in direct sales
is to do the thing you dread the most first. Get that monkey off your back.
You’ll be amazed at the stress that will relieve!
5.
If my stress is due to feeling backed up on
things in my office or around the house, I sometimes get up extra early the
next day and use the quiet early morning hours when I’m the only one crazy
enough to be awake to first spend time with the Lord and in His word, and
second to have uninterrupted time to take care of some of the things that
require my attention. It’s amazing what this does to lift anxiety and my
spirits. I find the relief outweighs the sacrifice of a few hours of sleep.
Above all,
stay in the day, as Matthew 6:34 insists, "Therefore do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day
is its own trouble.” Perhaps that’s why God’s compassions renew every morning.
His joy comes in the morning. We rejoice and praise Him every morning because
we absolutely have to remember and remind and restate who He is and what He
says He’ll do for us in order to make it! And He’ll give us exactly what we
need for that day – nothing more and nothing less. And we can lay our heads
down at night knowing He’ll give us exactly what we need the next day too.
“My son,
let them not depart from your eyes – keep sound wisdom and discretion; so they
will be life to your soul and grace to your neck. Then you will walk safely in
your way, and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be
afraid; yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet” (Proverbs 3:21-24).
Lord, help us
to roll our cares on You, for You care about us. As we do, may we be more fully
able to become wholly Yours and do what You have for us to do.
Shauna Wallace
Holy His
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