In one of the darkest times in my life, I clung to Lamentations 3 for dear life. One day I read it in The Message paraphrase, and it changed everything for me. The translator, Eugene Peterson, had put into words what I was feeling. It was a time of intense grief for me, and these words expressed it better than I ever could.
“I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed. I remember it all—oh, how well I remember— the feeling of hitting the bottom. But there’s one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:
GOD ’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I’m sticking with GOD (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left.
GOD proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It’s a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from GOD. It’s a good thing when you’re young to stick it out through the hard times.
When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face. The “worst” is never the worst.” Lamentations 3:19-30 MSG
I don’t have any great theological truth for you today. I just want to say this – it’s okay to grieve in this season. There is a lot to grieve. The loss of life. The loss of security. The loss of big life events like weddings, graduations, proms, vacations, and the like. The loss of being able to bury our dead the way we are used to. The loss of certain freedoms like going out to eat. The loss of financial stability.
There is a ton we are sad over right now. It’s a lot. Some days I can’t even get out of my yoga pants because it overwhelms me so much. But this statement keeps coming to me – “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!” (Lamentations 3:22-23CSB)
We will get up in the morning and there will be new news, yes. But there will be a new sunrise. And with it comes brand new mercies. Brand new grace to get us through that day. All we have to do it be quiet and wait for hope to appear. It always does. Because the worst is never the worst. There is always hope. Today, keep a grip on that hope, whose name is Jesus!
This statement was in my quiet time the other day, and I want to end with this:
May we not miss hearing Your promise to deliver because our ears are more attune to our brokenness and pain. May we cry out to the Lord – the One who is who He says he is and will do what He says He will do.[1]
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