Todd Johnson
Family Pastor
Lamentations 3:22-24
“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.”
I love these verses from Lamentations. The entire book was written by Jeremiah as he expressed his sorrow and grief over the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple as he cried out to the Lord. God wants our laments. He wants us to cry out to Him and share our hurts and pains. The Lord cares so much for us that He gives us new mercies every morning. I feel like I have been living a life of laments for the last 18 months. My mother was diagnosed with cancer the same week we found out Bethany’s cancer had spread throughout her spine and part of her brain. I remember just crying to the Lord that day with all my being and asking Him, “why?”
I never got an answer except to just trust and lean into Him like I never had before. What a rough journey the next two years would be as I lost them both within ten months of each other. I express my laments over these losses to my Savior and He reminds me that He is faithful and is where my hope should lie. I’ve had many other things in my life that have caused me to cry out to God like when we found out my oldest son had Tourette’s or when my job at a church was being eliminated and even when I had to put my dog down. You know what? God can handle every one of these laments and the beautiful thing is, He wants us to share them with Him. He is faithful to listen to every cry and wants to hold us tight and comfort us.
Look at that first verse again. His steadfast love NEVER ceases!! That might be the most comforting news you hear today or even this week. His love for you is never ending. He will always give you new mercies every morning and He is all you need. I pray that if you are hurting right now, that you will cry out to the Lord and share your lament with Him. He loves you and will never leave you.