Read Lamentations 3:21–24

You’ve heard them. Those all-too-familiar cries of exasperation. Maybe a couple have crossed your mind today sometime between the too-early chime of your smartphone and the too-late racket of the neighbour’s pool party.

Going from bad to worse.
Jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
Between a rock and a hard place.
Why can’t I get a break?
My mother told me there would be days like these, but she never said they would run in packs.

Tough days. We all have them. Some are worse than others. In fact, some days you honestly wonder why you ever crawled out from under the covers that morning. Negative thoughts creep in, start to fester, and ultimately, we’re defeated. Yet regardless of what went on the night before or what you may face as a new day dawns, God offers you truth on which you can centre your thoughts:

I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” (Lamentations 3:21–24)

You read that too quickly. Read it again, slowly...with feeling. Now listen carefully: pay attention to what you say to yourself today. You can talk down to yourself and rehearse all the negative stuff in your life. Or, you can choose to say to yourself, “The Lord has given me a new day. It’s packed full of mercy. My hope is in Him.” Let your thoughts reflect the truth of God’s Word all day today. You have a fresh supply of His mercies waiting for you to embrace hour after hour.

Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord...Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved.

The full devotional can be purchased at https://www.tyndale.com/p/good-morning-lord-can-we-talk/9781414380681.