Hope

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

These are difficult times we are living in for many reasons. Some days things seem pretty dark. But always there is hope.

The words below the photo were spoken thousands of years ago by the prophet Jeremiah. Things were so very bleak for his people (my people – the Jewish people) and for him, personally. The first twenty verses of this third chapter of Lamentations (Jeremiah’s lamentations) detail the excruciating anguish – physical, mental, spiritual – of this man, this prophet of God.

After lamenting for quite a while, he says (v. 20) “My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me” (that is, his soul is remembering all the anguish). “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:” (He is in anguish, but he is about to purposely turn his thoughts to something) – “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”

He knew. Jeremiah knew that God’s love and His mercies never end. They are new every morning. God’s faithfulness is great. God is his portion and Jeremiah said because of all this, he would hope in God.

Me too.

As the storm clouds gather. As we are losing precious freedoms that we used to have. As people are cancelled for a non-woke opinion, as good is said to be evil and evil is said to be good, I will hope in God. As people precious to me are hurting, whether physically, mentally, emotionally, I will hope in God. As the future is so uncertain, I will hope in God. Because great is His faithfulness. His mercies never come to an end. He is my portion and I will hope in Him.

His mercies are new. Every morning.

There is hope.