Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading titled New and Certain was written by Karen Huang.

For three years apart from household necessities, Susan didn't buy anything for herself.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected my friend's income and she embraced a simple lifestyle.

One day while cleaning my apartment, I noticed how shabby and faded my things looked, she shared.

That's when I started to miss having new things,

the sense of freshness and excitement. My surroundings seemed tired and stale. I felt as if there was

nothing to look forward to. Susan found encouragement in an unlikely book in the Bible.

Written by Jeremiah after Jerusalem fell to Babylon,

Lamentations describes the open wound of grief suffered by the prophet and the people.

In the midst of grief's despair, however, lies sure ground for hope, God's love. His compassions never fail,

Jeremiah wrote. They are new every morning. Susan was reminded that God's deep love relentlessly

breaks through anew each day. When circumstances make us feel there's no longer

anything to look forward to, we can call to mind his faithfulness and look forward to how

he'll provide for us. We can confidently hope in God, knowing our hoping is never in vain because it's secured in his

steadfast love and compassion. God's love is my something new each day, Susan says. I can look ahead

with hope.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Lamentations chapter 3, verses 19 through 26.

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassion's never fail.

They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, the Lord is my portion.

Therefore, I will wait for him. The Lord is good to. Therefore I will wait for him.

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him.

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