Hope Amidst Lamentations

Sometimes you'll find the most hopeful verses in the craziest of places. These are the verses that often are under-recognized because of the popularity of 'stock' verses.

"Because of the Lord's faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! I say: The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him." - Lamentations 3:22-24

These verses are choc full of amazing truth, insight, and theology! To add to it's incredibility, it's placed right smack dab in the middle of possibly the saddest book in the Bible (I mean, c'mon. It's called Lamentations for a reason). Because of these amazing, little known verses, I will be writing a few pieces, starting with this one, about the meanings and truths of some of these hidden verses. To be honest, this prompt is more selfish than anything else because I am not slowing down amidst my crazy schedule to focus on Jesus outside of morning and evening devos. This way, I am kept accountable by you guys, plus I get to share my heart with yall!

"Because of the Lord's faithful love, we do not perish,"
This is AMAZING! Our God has a FAITHFUL love; it is one that will not turn its back on us. God promises, in 2 Timothy, that if we are faithless, He will remain faithful. And it is BECAUSE of His faithful love that we do not perish. Notice how it is in PRESENT tense. It's not that because of the Lord's faithful love, we did not perish, or that we will not perish, but that we DO not perish. Did you realize that you are kept alive, free of sin, because of a EVER-PRESENT ON-GOING work of love in you? Jesus died on the cross once and for all, but we need His presence everyday to keep us living.

"...for His mercies never end. They are new every morning;"
God's mercies are new every morning. Sound familiar? It's a cliché among Christian circles, and so often its importance is underestimated. The fact that God would grant us mercy, and not just any mercy, but NEW mercy every day! This mercy is not old and spent, but it is fresh and new and ready to get dirty. Like a towel, mercy becomes 'dirtier' as it helps us get clean. You are not the one cleaning yourself, though, because you cannot give yourself mercy. Jesus is the One who hands us a new towel, a new mercy, every morning! It's fresh and good smelling and crisp! And here is the mind-blower: they NEVER end. Ponder that for a moment.

"...great is Your faithfulness!"
The author just cannot contain themselves! They get talking about their personable God and they cannot help but shout about His faithfulness! This interjection shows how prized and treasured God's relationship with the author is. I can relate. When people speak truth - real, deep, hard-core and straight-up truth - I get EXCITED. I explain it the only way I can: as if I had a baby inside me. Hear me out, because I'm a guy and it would be strange to find a baby inside of me! But the Holy Spirit just jumps and flips and I just need to let it out! That comes out in exclamations like, "Yes!" or "MMHMM!", fistpumps or smiles or nodding, or even bouncing around on my toes and clenching and unclenching my fists. God's truth is SOO GOOD, and when it hits home, it HITS home. Can ya feel me?!

"I say:"
Public confession of the faith. Pure and simple. This is essential to our faith; Jesus commands us to share Him with others. Our relationship with Jesus, while a personal one, should not be a lonely or isolated one. To steal from a song written by Avalon: "Wait a minute, if we say we LOVE it, why are we not in it? Why we run and hide?" If we love this world, like Jesus wants us to, we would share our faith with others, so that they would know Him (and therefore be saved from Death). 

"...The Lord is my portion,"
The author shows a great amount of spiritual maturity by saying this. They OWN Jesus; they know that in a similar way to the way that they are God's, God is theirs. Because of grace, they have received an intimate relationship with the Most High God and they don't step around the fact. They don't talk themselves down, saying that they don't deserve Him and that they don't know why God allows them in His presence. In short, they KNOW who they are in Christ! They know the simple truth that God is their portion. 

"...therefore I will put my hope in Him."
Because we have received Jesus as our portion, we can put our hope in Him! We have a SECURED INHERITANCE - our portion - that cannot be stolen away. Our portion cannot be taken or lessened or made worse. It is as good as it is gonna get! The scandal of grace has offered a priceless gift without price. The most valued gift has been given as if it had no value. And because it is free, it is NOT DEPENDENT ON HUMAN CONDITIONALITY—we cannot do ANYTHING to lose it! Since it cannot be taken, or lost, or worsened in any way, we can place our hope there! A hope placed in fallibility is a hope that won't last; but a lasting hope comes from its placement in the infallible: Christ.

Explore your Bible. Think about the verses you are reading. Pray for wisdom and guidance!

P.S. - I know it's been a while between posts. Bear with me; I'm pretty busy and getting busier all the time. Trust me, I miss the time I spend writing. I need to slow down and focus my heart... it needs to be a CHOICE. So, I'll choose this day, and the other days, to #LiveItLikeJesus. Please join me.

P.P.S. - Also, HUGE praise for you guys!! Some of you read my Maine support letter... it sounds like I am ALREADY fully supported! Wow! I needed half my funds by next Sunday; so this was a MAJOR blessing! For those of you who are praying and/or supporting, thank you! Keep it up; my account's overflow will spill into my peers' accounts, and they still need support!

God bless you guys today!