Here Are My Thoughts

He wakes up, and he can already feel it. He’s barely opened his eyes, and already he knows that try as he might, he can’t forget. Last night. It was a blur, and it was fun, sure, but now, there he lays, staring up at the plain white of his bedroom ceiling. His mind is racing, but not because of the excitement or pleasure-the emotional high from last night is gone. Instead, questions roll over and over in his head.

Why didn’t I stop it? Didn’t I know better? What’s wrong with me? How could I do this? How could I do this again?

Put yourself in that scene, if you can. Maybe, for you, it’s not that difficult to do so. Maybe, if you’re like me, you know what that feeling is like. Maybe you’ve been there before, too. Maybe you’ve found yourself, more times than you care to count, asking those same, haunting questions.

Sin gets old, doesn’t it? I mean, sure, in the moment, it feels like anything but. In the moment of giving in-of saying that word, eating that food, drinking that drink, watching that video, texting that person, thinking that thought-sin feels great. And more than that, it feels like exactly what you need. It scratches the itch.

But then the moment ends. That seemingly never-ending night gives way to morning, when you lay in bed and look up at your bedroom ceiling and realize that what felt like what you needed turned out to just be another self-destructive decision.

See, sin is fun until you understand what it costs. It’s great until the waves of regret, loss, frustration, and shame come. Then, it’s just old.

But here’s the thing-this actually isn’t a post about sin. It’s not about regret, or shame. It’s about where we turn after the sin, as we feel that regret and shame. It’s not about what is old-it’s about what is new.

The Bible says this:

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.”-Lamentations 3:22-23

This passage contains a beautiful truth about God-his love and mercy does not stop. It doesn’t get stale. It’s brand new. Every. Single. Morning.

Couldn’t you use something new? That life we often live, that endless cycle of bad decisions to gain fleeting moments of pleasure, ending in wishing we could take it all back-doesn’t it get old?

See, we need new morning mercy to move forward from the bad nights. We need steadfast love to carry us through our shame. And thankfully, God lacks in neither-and he freely dispenses it to all who surrender to Him. 

And when we receive that love and mercy-when we allow it to touch our hearts, it starts to satisfy us in ways that sin never could. And then those temptations, those things we’ve always struggled with, those sins that feel old-they slowly but surely start to look less appealing. We stop giving in so easily, stop making so many bad decisions, and stop waking up from so many regrettable nights.

That’s what can happen for you. That’s what is possible if you surrender to a God of steadfast love and unceasing mercy. Your life can be new.

But maybe, right now, your stuck in what’s old. Maybe you find yourself waking up, laying in bed, and staring up at the ceiling. Remembering that night. Feeling that shame. Asking those questions.

If that’s you, hear the hope. Your sin may feel old. But God’s mercies are new. 

 

-Brett

John 10:10