Isn’t January so great? I love the feeling of newness and of a fresh start. There’s something so gracious and redemptive about January. It feels clean and full of hope. Sure, we can dirty it up with overdoing and fear of failure, but the beauty in the promise of “new” is the freedom to fail.

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT)

Neverending, unceasing, faithful and new. These are the gifts of new mercy. And the best part about the whole thing? The thing that qualifies you as a recipient of this amazing new, fresh, never ending, never ceasing, faithfulness? Failure. Failure is the only prerequisite of mercy. Mercy is for the mess ups, the broken promises, and the failed resolutions.

You don’t have to get it together to get mercy. You just have to get it wrong.

I’m not suggesting that mercy is a license to disobey God. It is, however, a license to be human. Permission to be desperate for Him every hour of the day, and the hope of a new start, over and over and over. I don’t know how many days my head hits the pillow and I think “well, there goes a another miserable day and I was a complete disaster.”

And then that truth is whispered in my ears. A reminder of mercy for the mess ups. A promise of hope. So, instead of closing my eyes with memories of my failure, I wake with hope and intention to press forward in His mercy.

I have this scripture written on my fridge, and I look at it about a thousand times a day. I absolutely love this reminder; I need this truth whispered in my ear daily from my Savior. He is doing something new. He is creating a flourishing life where I feel completely dried up and overspent.

For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. Isaiah 43:19 (NLT)

Let’s ask God to create a new heart in us each day to welcome in His new mercies! In each moment we mess up (because we are going to mess up) we know that we are covered in His grace. No matter how hard we try to be supermom, the cape is a fairy tale. The only thing that makes us super is the strength of Christ alone. New mercies are like God creating rivers in a dry wasteland. When you feel completely spent and empty, he makes a river rush through. You just have to let him!

Breathe deeply in this new year. Don’t be afraid to follow where He’s leading you in fear that you’ll fail Him. His faithfulness will always overcome our failures. Each day is brand new with His love and grace for you!  

Happy New Year and Happy New Mercy!