Mercy

At around 6:00 pm, my patience is in tatters, my ears are ringing, my brain is buzzing (I really have that sensation, anyone else?), and my tolerance for little ones hanging on my legs as I walk between fridge and stove getting dinner finished is really gone. I am so grateful that bedtime is close, so close...and repentant for my ingratitude...for scolding and snapping and grumbling.

I'm reading John Piper's, A Godward Life, during Lent this year. I'm not very far in, but I would recommend it already. The reading for today was based on Matthew 6:34: "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

"The manna in the wilderness was given one day at a time. There was no storing up. That is the way we must depend on God's mercy. You do not receive today the strength to bear tomorrow's burdens. You are given mercies for today's troubles. Tomorrow the mercies will be new." (Piper 26)

We have a faithful God, one who gives us enough mercy and grace for today. I think of two things when I consider this:

1) A reminder that losing my temper and speaking harshly to my children or husband is not an option. This life is not 'too much' for me, no matter how crazy it might feel in the moment. He has already provided me with grace to choose joy and love no matter how I feel right now.

2) There will be new mercies tomorrow. We get to sleep and wake up rested (some days) and our God will provide whatever we need for that day.

I sometimes get caught up in a wave of anxiety about my childrens' futures. What kind of society will they grow up in? Will they know Jesus? Will they make devastating choices? Regardless of the answers to any of these questions: God will give me mercy and grace to deal with the future. One day at a time.

Present grace and future grace: our God is good.