My spirit is depressed. Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: The Lord's unfailing love and mercy still continue, fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.

 Lamentations 3:20-23 (GNT)

“Some of the most important discoveries in this world happened completely by accident. While searching for one thing, researchers found something entirely different. Charles Goodyear accidentally discovered vulcanized rubber after spilling a mixture onto a hot stove. Super Glue was discovered while attempting to make clear plastic. Penicillin was the result of Alexander Fleming’s sloppiness while experimenting with the flu virus. And where on earth would we be had Dr. Spencer Silver not failed to create a strong adhesive? The result of his failure was a re-positionable adhesive which led to the invention of Post-It Notes. While these researchers were ultimately successful, they failed miserably at what they set out to do. 

Sometimes our lives feel like that, too, except we only see the failure part, not the new creation part. We set out to do something, and we fail to live up to our own expectations, or the expectations of others. So we let our entire plan fail. We let our dreams die. Other times we allow sin to derail our faith, and we only remember God’s sovereignty, not His grace. But God’s story is a story of mercy. Mercy is the thread that is woven throughout the Bible. Without God’s great mercy, there would be only pain and suffering. Without God’s great mercy there would be no forgiveness, no joy, no peace. Without God’s great mercy, there would be no cross. 

Because of fresh mercies, you get a do-over every single day. Not a license to disobey God, because there are natural consequences when you sin, but His love is bigger than any sin or any failure. And as sure as the sunrise, the darkness of yesterday disappears, and there is hope for every tomorrow. Because Jesus wipes your messes clean, and your sins leave no stains, His mercy also empowers you to extend mercy to others. Thank Him for endless mercies, for taking whatever you failed to do in your own power and for creating something new, something amazing and useful to Him. Like Post-It Notes, sometimes we miserable failures become the most beautiful gifts of all! You are loved!