We all grieve things. Right now I bet every single one of you can think of one think you grieve. One thing that sucks the hope from you. One thing that is getting you down. Grief isn't just about death. I know MANY friends that are grieving the length of time their adoption is taking. Friends that are grieving the loss of health that they once had. Friends that are disappointed with their spiritual lives and grieving their relationship with the Lord. In Lamentations Jeremiah is grieving the loss of a city, Jerusalem. The loss of a people, God's people. Really the loss of the hope that God had for them to be a community living for Him. These are the words of God, through Jeremiah, in the midst of all the lamenting:
I remember my affliction and my wandering. 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 compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love. For He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.
These words make me wonder just what Jeremiah was going through, the parts we can't read about that are just in his soul, between him and God. He writes with such anxt and disappointment, while acknowledging that God is faithful and compassionate. Another reminder that all of the attributes of God may not seem good to us, but they are all good and perfect, because He is.
I pray that you will find hope with whatever you are grieving today, and know that God's ways are greater.
I love those verses from Lamentations and often find comfort in them. Thanks for reminding me of them today. I needed it.
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