Sundays with Kristi - Renewal

To me, the sunrise is the most beautiful of all God’s creations. Granted, God has certainly created a number of breathtaking and splendid works of art such as sandy beaches, majestic mountain views, and the like. All those are stunningly beautiful, but to me, there’s nothing like the newness and freshness of a sunrise.


Sunrises are so varied. Some mornings see brilliant reds and yellows reflected on the clouds. Others show only hints of pink and purple against a clear blue sky. Still other mornings, only a light yellow haze is visible as the sun tries to pierce through an early morning fog. Occasionally, I sleep right through the sunrise (which is really hard now since I have small children), but even though I didn’t see it come up, the sun is there waiting to welcome me. Each and every day, God gives us a new artistic masterpiece to celebrate, all of them speaking of God’s refreshing newness every morning.

Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, His compassions never fail; they are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations, a book of mourning, sadness, and grief, contains this hopeful promise. The prophet Jeremiah knew as he wrote these words that even though the people of Israel were going through hard times, God is faithful. He still loved them. Plus, God’s love and compassion will never cease.


Many of us have heard these truths about God before. We know that He loves us. We know that His love goes on and on. We tell ourselves these truths in the midst of the circumstances of our daily lives, and certainly these truths are true. But, they are only half of the story. Not only does God love us and have compassion for us in the midst of all the circumstances of life, God’s love and compassion are new every morning. We don’t have to wake up to face the day with a stale remembrance of God’s love. We don’t have to try to hoard God’s compassion thinking we must try and make it last. God gives His love and compassion to us new and fresh every morning, just like a sunrise. And just like the sunrise, we may see them revealed in our lives differently every day. Some days, I need to see bold, stark reminders of God’s love in order to pierce through the clouds that hang around me. Other days, the soft, slow envelopment of His love spills into my life like an embrace. Some days, I do not see it and I can not feel it, but just because I can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there. God is faithful. Every morning He gives us His love and compassion anew to wash over our lives with a fresh wave.

Have you experienced the fresh wave of God’s love and compassion today? Look for the sunrise. See it as a reminder of God’s promise to renew and refresh His love and compassion for us, no matter what our circumstances or our situation. Live and share that message of hope today to the people you are around so they, too, can share in the renewal of God’s beautiful sunrise.

Kristi Burchfiel, Christian devotional author and speaker
Living in the World – Living out the Word
Check out my website and daily devotions either on my blog or on my Facebook page

Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com