Why Today Is Better Than Yesterday

Spring is my new favorite season.

photo: Raye Wortel

I’ve fallen in love with its scents, and sights, and how it tells fresh stories of nature’s renewal.

Every day, blossoms get bigger, trees grow taller, and leaves sprout greener, as they seem to speak a singular message…

Today is better than yesterday.

Today, nature stands sturdier, and fuller, and more certain than it did a day ago.

And so do you and I.

I know you may not feel like you do.

I know you may feel driven away, walled off, or weighed down in chains.

You may feel left without help, deprived of peace, bitter, and abandoned to darkness.

Your soul is downcast, your heart is pierced, and you feel as if you’ve been trampled in the dust.

And you’ve been mocked, afflicted, and besieged with such hardship that your bones and flesh feel old and broken.

I write these words and see your face. I see you shaking your head as tears pile up, and you whisper to yourself, this is me.

And it is you. It’s you, and me, and countless others over untold lifetimes.

It was the prophet Jeremiah, too.

Every word I used to describe our lives, Jeremiah used to describe his.

In Lamentations 3, Jeremiah tells how he felt during one of the darkest times in his life. A time where grief and worry overwhelmed him to the core.

But even there – in the midst of his many remembered sorrows, he called one thing to mind, and hope remained a flame…

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. – Lamentation 3:23 ESV

The Lord’s love and mercies never end. They are new every morning.

New in their abundance to meet our wavering need.

New in their strength to help us in our temptations and trials.

New in their assurance that God in on the throne, and our sorrows will not last forever.

Like the springtime treasures of nature which grow more each day, we too, are more than we were yesterday.

God’s love and compassion – offered daily, meets our ever-changing need. It makes today better despite how we feel. It’s always more than we need, and sufficient in its promise to carry us from yesterday’s strength towards tomorrow’s.

This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.

This week, when sorrows threaten to strangle your heart, call to mind the great faithfulness of your loving and merciful Lord, and let your hope bloom, once more, like the wonder and renewal of spring.

Your turn

1. How have you sensed God’s mercies in your times of need?
2. How easy is it for you to call to mind the steadfast love and compassion of God?