Learning the lost art of the lament…

Yesterday at MCC we spent time re-discovering the art of the lament.

To read from the book of Lamentations click here.

In Lamentations chapter 3, after expressing all the grief and pain and loss that has been suffered, the author says:

²¹ Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

Even in exile, in the midst of despair, we can have hope.

Because our hope is not grounded in our circumstances. Circumstances change like the weather. They are unpredictable.

Our hope is not in things going a particular way.

Our hope is grounded in the character of God.

The God whose love for us is greater than we can imagine.

The God whose compassions we can not exhaust. They are new every morning.

Maybe there are some things we need to grieve. Maybe we need to lament our suffering and loss.

If you need to lament, do it.  But don’t forget that suffering and pain do not mean that there is no hope. Our hope is not in something. It is in someone.

His compassions never fail.

They are new each morning.

Great is his faithfulness!