Lamentations 3:21-23
Yet there is one ray of hope: his compassion never ends. It is only the Lord’s mercies that have kept us from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
My sister was going through some things she had stored away, and she found our maternal great-grandmother Hassell’s family Bible. Tucked into the pages was a small envelope of photograph negatives and a couple of tiny pictures of my mom as a toddler. My sister asked me to scan the negatives and invert them for printing. I have done this before with other old negatives we found amongst family photos, and the “reveal” is always fascinating.
This set was no exception and provided us with a couple of new photos of my favorite uncle, Frank…husband to my great-aunt Altha. My mother refers to little blessings like this as a “silver box”…and mine for today was new pictures of my Uncle Frank, my mom as a small girl, and the houses that made up my grandparents’ neighborhood only a block from the home in which I was reared. Today, the land where these houses once sat is cleared…a vacant lot offers little to no evidence that three homes and a garage once occupied that particular plot of land.
I have to admit, when I look out on that bare parcel and remember when there were houses there - filled with people who shaped my childhood - I can get a little sad. Yet here today was this “silver box” of photos and memories…confirmation that there was once “life” on that block…that people lived, loved, and no doubt “cussed and discussed” in those tiny homes that seemed so big back then…that little girls and collie dogs stood in the street or sat on porch steps and had their picture snapped for posterity…that their memory lives on, thanks to photographs and those of us who are old enough to remember them and tell the next generation.
As I looked at these photos and read this scripture passage, I thought of the biggest “silver box” of all…God’s faithfulness. I considered His mercies and compassion – new every day for each of us. I thought about how these gifts keep us from complete destruction and give us hope and courage to live another day, no matter what is happening in our immediate world – or the world at large. And I was filled with a heart of gratitude.
See, God didn’t have to do any of this for you and me. He doesn’t have to keep picking us up and setting us back on track day after day. There is no reason for Him to care so deeply about us other than an amazing, abiding, unconditional love that we cannot even begin to comprehend. The least we can do is to offer Him our thanks and praise. It’s all we have…because we can never match Him…not in any way, shape or form.
So I want you to think about your day and figure out where you might have overlooked a “silver box”. Consider how God has blessed you and refreshed your hope and energy today…how He has granted you His mercy and compassion, lifted you out of a mess, or soothed your weary and broken soul in some situation. Spend some time telling God how much this means to you…how full your heart is at the very thought of His love and care…how grateful you are that He loves you this much.
Like images that come to life when negatives are inverted and edited, God has refreshed us this very day with His amazing and capable handiwork. Don’t you think He deserves a few minutes of our time spent in gratitude and praise? Won’t you stop and thank Him for His fresh and tender mercies this day…and in every day to come? Isn’t it time you thanked God for His “silver boxes” in your life? Wouldn’t this be a perfect time to start?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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