What God Has Done for Us Lately

Lately, when I wake up, I have this increasing awareness that the start of a new day is an undeserved gift from God.

Lately, when I go to bed, I have this increasing awareness that I might not wake up in the morning. And if I do, it’s only because God has allowed it.

When I wake up, I’m increasingly aware that I did not wake up in hell. And that this, too, is the work of God. For if I got what I deserved, that’s where I’d be right now – far from the presence of God, receiving the just recompense for my sinful ways.

But I did wake up this morning, and I did not wake up in hell.

Who gets the credit for that? Surely not me.

King Jesus gets the credit. Amen?

When I wake up, these words are ringing in my ears:

“He himself gives all men life and breath and everything else . . . In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:25, 28).

My life is hanging by the slender thread of God’s sovereign grace.

And so is yours.

This is what has been on my mind lately – the matchless, amazing grace of God that saved a wretch like me.

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
Psalm 103:8-13