Therefore I Have Hope

"I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 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. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait on Him." Lamentations 3:19-24

This passage of Scripture, that Jeremiah pens aptly describes what often feel. It is not so much the details of what I remember or the specific issues that recycle within me that are important, but the similar process I go through every time.

Jeremiah did a fair share of whining and weeping and knew well how to turn that around. The Lord has a way, like nobody else can, including me, of turning my lamenting into joy. It begins with me spending a little too much time dwelling on the past. Consider the past, and learn from it, but don't dwell there. Live in the present and move forward. But we don't. We reconsider what is over, again and again.

Of course, the taste of the bitterness; regret and memory of the hurt and pain of past sin, failure and regret begins to grow if we think too long or hard, and can even tempt us to relive the experiences. During these times though, hopefully quicker and not slower, there is a hope that begins to well up inside me. A veritable spring of freshness and encouragement that begins to flood my thinking. It starts with the simple appreciation for God's love, unconditional and undeserved. That seed of hope sprouts into a feeling of receiving His unfailing compassion.
New life grows within my soul, and my reason, and purpose and zeal for Him begins budding. These buds bloom into a bouquet of renewal whose fragrance replaces my stinking thinking. I say to myself, "The Lord is what I need and that is enough, so whatever it is, the past, the present or the future, I will wait on Him."

I can't stop reminiscing or reflecting on the days gone by, but I don't have to live there. Every morning and every moment I can choose to put my hope in Him and all else can fade into perspective. God is so faithful, so loving and compassionate. All else is unimportant by comparison. I need to remember that way more often than I need to remember anything else. I am in a good place just now, how about you? I hope you are too.

In Him,
Pastor Fred

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