"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.
-Isaiah 1:18 (NASB95)
It snowed a ton here in Moses Lake yesterday... the snow clouding your vision as you looked out the window sort of snow... I really love it. I'm guessing that we got just at 5" of new snow. The snow reminds me of this text in Isaiah, "though your sins are as scarlet; they will be as white as snow." Through the winter months it can be a bit dreary around here. We don't get enough snow to make it beautiful, the desert winter is just brown and bleak. Or we get just enough snow to skiff the ground and not completely cover the grass and grime. I don't mind it terribly, but there's nothing like a new snowfall to cover all the grass, dirt and grime. It gives a new view, a new landscape, it clears the air and covers the ground.
God's faithfulness to give us new starts is amazing to me. He tells us that his mercies are "new every morning." "The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him." Lamentations 3:22-24 (NASB95) He is long-suffering and forbearing with us to a degree that is mind-boggling. Forbearance is one of my favorite words... when you boil it down it pretty much means "to put up with." God just puts up with us; our weakness, our weirdness, our faulty and at times insincere worship.
These musings clarify two thoughts in my mind. 1) When I'm feeling like I'm worthless and not accomplishing much; when I know that I'm falling short in some area of my life, and particularly in my devotion to Him, He's faithful and forbearing to me. Though I fall short of giving myself in a way that He's worthy of he bridges the gap in coming toward me. 2) The world would be a vastly different place if we humans treated each other in the same way that God treats us; giving each other new chances, putting up with each other, loving each other and bridging the distance when someone falls short. We're so often actually the opposite. Rather than giving each other new chances we say, "Sorry, that was your last chance!" Rather than putting up with each other we say, "I'm done with you!" Rather than building bridges we tend to build walls. But it's a new day... and His mercy is new today... we can start over and make a difference. Today I want to work a bit harder to give another chance, put up with someone who surely isn't any worse than I when it's all said and done, and build a bridge.
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