Peace in the Aftermath

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Ever since the marathon bombing, I have felt an extra weight on me. I have been sucked into the news cycle and my focus has gone from looking up to God to the hopelessness in this world.  When I stopped looking up to Him, I have felt more stress, more anxiety, more sadness and less peace, less trust and less faith. I have felt alone, even when I know I am not. Its like my mind knows the verses to say, but my heart does not connect with it. This leads to stress on my body and makes my Lyme disease, fibromyalgia and awful head cold worse. Sometimes I am my own worst enemy. 

After another sleepless night, I got up this morning and saw these verses in Lamentations from John Piper's devotional for yesterday. Oh how I could have used this yesterday. However, I can choose to use it today and every other day God blesses me with. You can find the article here. It is a great read and I highly recommend it especially if you have been struggling as I have with the extra weight of this world. Instead of being sad, I can rejoice that God's mercies are new every morning and that I don't have to worry as Matthew 6:34-Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own troubles- and Philippians 4:6- do not be anxious about anything, but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God- tell us. But it goes on with verse 7 And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. What joy we can have! The peace of God is there for the taking and that is right where I want to be!