What I like about this quote is its relief for the morning. How great is it that we can start anew every day? Isn’t that the promise of the gospel? Restoration and redemption made available to us through the gift of Jesus and his death for our sins. To walk in this freedom wasn’t always available to me. Prior to finding lasting sobriety on 1.10.2017 my mornings were full of regret and self-loathing as I started another day with a hangover and a cold beer. The cycle of addictions kept me bound for decades and the lie of the bottle told me that this was my lot in life. Having tried to quit in the past I could never find lasting sobriety. The drinking and using never seemed to be enough as I tried to fill the emptiness in my spirit. The sense of being alone in my addictions despite being a person of faith was excruciating. Why was God seemingly silent during my time of need? Psalm 13: 1-2 says, “How long, Lord. Will you forget me forever? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?” This lament from David in the Psalms gave me some comfort knowing that I wasn’t alone in my struggles. The gospel is full of mighty men and women who felt abandoned in their time of need, but the beautiful expression of God’s nature can be found in his Sovereignty in our lives. I don’t believe in coincidence. Everything happens for a reason and my experience is that I have no regrets. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, and my life has purpose despite the decades of substance abuse. Hear this in Isaiah 61:1, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” If you’re struggling with addictions or life has you down, the promise of the gospel tells me that YOU are loved with an everlasting love and the creator of the universe is pursing you with unconditional love.
No man knows till he has suffered from the night how sweet and dear to his heart and eye the morning can be. Jonathan Harker, Dracula (1897)