Stepping Into God’s New Mercies

As we step into a new year, we don’t walk in with our strength — we walk in with God’s mercy. The year behind us may hold moments we didn’t expect, prayers still waiting for answers, and chapters we’re still learning to understand. But the year ahead begins with a promise: 

“His mercies are new every morning.”

You don’t need to have everything figured out.

You don’t need a perfect plan.

You don't need new resolutions. 

You just need to take the next step with Jesus.

He goes before you.

He walks beside you.

He carries what you cannot.

May this new year be filled with quiet courage, renewed hope, and the gentle assurance that God is already in your tomorrow.

Happy New Year — grace is going ahead of you.

Why Did it Have to be Me?

 

“The Lord trieth the righteous.” — Psalm 11:5 (KJV)

Have you ever been down into the depths of loss or heartbreak, suffering or complete disaster? When the only question in your head is "why me"? When you feel like you are being threshed literally with no escape?

It can be a heartbreaking thought - "I never hurt anyone, I tried to follow our Lord, I tried to do all the right things and I never hurt anyone knowingly. Then why? Why did it have to be me?"

Well, it had to be you for the very reasons you feel it should not have been: Your belief, faith & trust in the Lord.

This is not a dichotomy. This is the reality of our faith. We are entrusted with a mission because God sees our strength and faith in Him & knows we can see it through with His help.

Here is a lesson we can learn from wheat! Wheat, while nestled safely in its husk, is of no use to the one who planted it. Only through threshing—through the shaking, beating, and separating—does its true value emerge. So, it is with the righteous.

God, in His wisdom, sees the treasure hidden beneath our comfort, the strength forged in our struggles, the ministry birthed from our pain. “The Lord trieth the righteous”—not to shame, but to shape. Not to expose, but to expand. Not to destroy but to protect. 

Every trial is a tool. Every hardship is a holy invitation. What feels like breaking is often God’s way of building. He threshes us from the husk of self-reliance, pride, and fear, so that we might grow rich toward Him—full of faith, compassion, and purpose.

And here’s the miracle: Trials become testimonies. Testimonies become ministries. Ministries become movements.

And Movements are what happen when one person’s story ignites faith in many. It’s the ripple effect of grace—where healing multiplies, hope spreads, and lives are transformed beyond what we could imagine. What began as pain becomes purpose, and what began as personal becomes powerful. Your story, once marked by suffering, becomes a light for someone else’s path. What once wounded you now equips you to heal. That’s the divine exchange—pain into purpose, ashes into beauty.

So, my friend, if you’re in the middle of the threshing floor, take heart. You are not being discarded—you are being refined. You may not want this. You may hate it. You may fear the journey. But God does not expose you to the elements of this world to harm you. He is drawing out the wheat, the worth, the witness within you. He is healing you, building you and creating a witness for Himself because you become His Living Testimony. 

Never Rejected!

 

And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren. Genesis 29:31 (KJV)

Leah was the woman no one chose. 

Her father used deception to marry her off. Her husband, Jacob, loved her sister more. And in a world that prized beauty and favor, Leah felt invisible.

But God saw her.

Look at her history - In Genesis 29, Leah names her sons with aching hope—“Now my husband will love me,” she says. Yet it’s not until her fourth son, Judah, that her focus shifts: “This time I will praise the Lord.” In her pain, Leah found purpose. In rejection, she discovered worship.

And God saw her.

Leah kept trying to earn love by seeking “more.” More children, more effort, more hope that maybe this time, someone would truly choose her. She was caught in a cycle many perfectionists know—chasing worth through what we can do.

But God saw her, not for her role but for her heart.

And He honored her. From Leah came the priestly tribe of Levi and the royal line of Judah—from which Jesus Himself would descend. The woman overlooked by man was chosen by God to carry the promise.

Taking a leaf out of Leah's story, remember this: even if others overlook you, God does not. He sees your silent tears. He knows your name. You don’t have to earn His love, not by perfect church attendance, perfect behavior, or perfect ministry. He loves you because you are His!

In fact, Scripture reminds us that God is especially near to the brokenhearted and the weary. Jesus doesn’t turn away from suffering—He steps into it. He walks with you through every scan, every treatment, every sleepless night.

You are not forgotten. You are not abandoned. You are not a burden to Him.

God’s love is not based on your health, your strength, or your ability to “stay positive.” It’s based on His unchanging character. And He has promised: “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” That includes you—today, tomorrow, and in every moment of every journey.