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FOR TODAY Listen to the song “You Say” by Lauren Daigle.
Read the lyrics: I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I’m not enough Every single lie that tells me I will never measure up Am I more than just the sum of every high and every low Remind me once again just who I am, because I need to know You say I am loved When I can’t feel a thing You say I am strong When I think I am weak You say I am held When I am falling short When I don’t belong You say I am Yours And I believe I believe What You say of me I believe The only thing that matters now is everything You think of me In You I find my worth, in You I find my identity Taking all I have and now I’m laying it at Your feet You have every failure, God, and You’ll have every victory Oh, I believe Yes, I believe What You say of me Oh, I believe When Lauren Daigle wrote this song, she was experiencing a lot of really high highs and really low lows in her life. She was struggling with her identity, where she fit in, and finding her footing. In a behind the scenes interview for the story behind "You Say," Daigle says: "...And thus brought up the issue of identity and trying to figure out how to exist when I felt like so many things were pulling me in so many different directions. I think a lot of times we build these complexes based on insecurity, based on fear, based on rejection, and lies that we have to constantly overcome. This song for me was just a reminder of identity. It was a reminder that when I’m weak, He is strong. So how do I change that and bring that into my everyday life? When I feel inadequate, how is it that there’s always these moments where I feel like God just steps in and supersedes my inadequacies?...Don’t get buried in confusion, in the waywardness. Just remember to stay the course." When we find our identity in God, we are cloaked in mercy. We are not just a “sum of every high and every low." Instead, our sins, our failures and our inadequacies are met with compassion. The need for mercy reminds of our humanity, but receiving God’s mercy assures us of our worth. How wonderful and transformative it is to know that we are God’s!
FOR FURTHER REFLECTION In this song, Daigle proclaims how God claims us, reverses the voices that say we are not “enough." Have you experienced this sort of mercy in your walk of faith? If you had to fill in this sentence what would it say: “God says I am __________." How does this sentence affect the way you believe and give witness to your faith?
MERCY This week we focus on mercy, a word we use frequently in religious contexts or even colloquially: “mercy me, Lord have mercy!" Such common usage can sometimes dilute the true depths of this word. Being “merciful” is a quality attributed to God and one that God asks of us in return. We will explore various aspects of this attribute and its impact on our relationships in the coming week. Find all previous daily devotionals here