How will you finish that sentence?  Just yesterday, our country held its national election.  Because I am writing this on Tuesday morning, I do not know what the election results are or if we will even have the results any time soon.  Maybe you stayed up all night hoping to get the results that you have been praying for.  Maybe you got them, and maybe you did not.  You might not have them for several days.  If you are part of that group, then you may or may not be thinking that this morning is “good”.  Maybe you just want to stay in bed and pull the covers over your head and cry?  Maybe you want to pull your bottom lip over your head and swallow so that you do not have to deal with all that is about to happen?  Maybe you have all kinds of questions because the “wrong person” won?  Maybe there are riots breaking out all over the country because people are not happy with the results?  Maybe you could not care any less about this election because you or a loved one are battling a sickness and just want to stay alive?  Maybe you have just lost a loved one and you have no idea of what you are going to do?  The election means little or nothing to you because you are overwhelmed?  

Do you get the picture?  It is morning and what am I going to do with this day?  What do I truly desire out of this day?  

About a week ago I made a suggestion to all Christians on Facebook.  I do not put much on Facebook other than to share something that I thought was funny or thoughtful that I saw on someone elses page from time to time.  I was watching the news and listening to all of the junk that is going on with the social media companies and how they seem to have an agenda.  Everyone is offering their opinions and thoughts about how to deal with all of this and God impressed upon me to just share His Word and then allow Him to use it however He chooses to do so.  My mission is to share His Word and make little to no commentary.  I wanted to simply proclaim the Word of God as it is written and then pray that He would use it. I have received several comments and “likes” each day but that was not my goal.  My desire was that people would read the passage, allow it to penetrate their minds and hearts , and then share it or share a verse of their own choosing.  

On Monday I shared Psalm 143:8 “Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You.  Show me the way I should go, for to You I lift up my soul.”  I can almost picture David laying his head on his pillow after a long and difficult day and he prays like most of us do, and yet it is probably very different from our prayers.  It is not uncommon at all for Robbi and I to go to bed at night and pray for our kids and our grandchildren.  It is not uncommon for us to pray for our church family and friends as we rehearse in our minds all that is going on in each of your lives.  It is not uncommon for us to think through the struggles of the day and then cast those anxieties at the feet of Jesus as we are told to do and then to also thank God for the blessings of the day.  That is all good stuff, and it is what we should be doing.  We are always hopeful for a good night of sleep.  But I have to admit that it is not too often that I ask God that if He is going to be busy while I am sleeping, that He would bring me news of His unfailing love in the morning.  Is that what I truly desire?  Is that the first thing on my mind in the morning?  Not usually.

You will be waking up this morning to news alerts on your phones or morning news commentators and political pundits bringing you news of what happened yesterday and last night as you slept.  It will be all over the TV stations and the newspapers.  There might even be riots and protests that have broken out around our country that will cause you to shake your head in wonder and amazement.  “Why do those people think that this is right and proper?”  What do you suppose your day might be like if instead you woke up to news and a reminder of God’s unfailing love?  How would that impact your day?  How would that change your perspective on the day?  You do realize that God loves you, don’t you?  Have you forgotten His promises to you as His child?  Are you “…convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, (INCLUDING ELECTION RESULTS) will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our LORD.” (Romans 8:38-39)  Do you realize what that means?  Isaiah 41:10 tells us “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you: I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” God is not telling us that we will not be faced with trials and difficulties, but He is telling us that He WILL strengthen us and help us and that He WILL hold us with His right hand.  That sounds to me a little like “unfailing love” and it is all yours if you are a follower of Jesus.  

We have always tried to make the focus of this devotional prayer, and this is the prayer of a man who is being pursued; he is tired and about ready to give up, and yet as he lays his head on his pillow at night he asks God to have the morning brings him news of the unfailing love of God. Why not give it a try? 

The following hymn is one of my favorites.  As you read the words, maybe the melody will come to memory, but I want to encourage you to allow those words to paint a picture in your mind and heart of what the love of God might look like.  Check it out:

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

Refrain:
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky. 

Have a great day basking in the reality of the love of God!