Lamentations 3:1-24
1I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of his wrath;
2he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
3surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.
4He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
he has broken my bones;
5he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
7He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has made my chains heavy;
8though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
9he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
he has made my paths crooked.
10He is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;
11he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces;
he has made me desolate;
12he bent his bow and set me
as a target for his arrow.
13He drove into my kidneys
the arrows of his quiver;
14I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
the object of their taunts all day long.
15He has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with wormwood.
16He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and made me cower in ashes;
17my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is;
18so I say, “My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the LORD.”
19Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the wormwood and the gall!
20My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
21But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
What a year it’s been! There were so many events and changes in the life of our country, families and church. Who thought that we would see the first African-American president inaugurated into office this year? Who knew that 7MR would become a spawning pool for so many families (and there are more to come!)? And after a time when we thought no one was going to be baptized in our church, a few brave souls decided that it was time to get baptized in November! Crazy. I can’t even list all the monumental events in our corporate and personal lives. But I’m sure in your own reflections regarding this past year, there were a lot of ups and downs and a lot to be thankful for.
But yet, as amazing as God has been in the “ups” of our lives, there have been a lot of “downs” as well. It’s all too easy to praise God in the “up” moments of our lives (as we ought to), but as I read this passage and reflect on this year, I can’t deny that God has been there in the “down.” It’s hard to see God through the fog of suffering draped around us, but like Jeremiah, who wrote this passage, many of us cling to God’s faithfulness, because that’s all we have.
And God willing, the sun will rise again and the calendar will turn. And as we head into this New Year together, we look forward to His steadfast love and faithfulness. Our family has only been here for a little over a year, and we clearly see God moving in the midst of the people at 7MR. We’ve seen God’s love poured out on and through our church. I can’t even imagine how faithful God has been in years past in the maturation of 7MR, but Jesus has brought us this far. I’m looking forward to this new year because I believe that God is going to around every corner we turn.
Prayer:
1. Reflect on God’s goodness to us this year, personally and corporately, and let that bring forth a song of praise.
2. Pray for those suffering around you. Pray that God will be visible to them. Pray that we may be vessels manifesting God’s mercy to them.
3. As we conclude our corporate focused season on Advent and space, ask God that He would graciously mold us into a church that would only find our portion and satisfaction in Him, nothing else. We don’t want to become infatuated and content with the space resolution. While we seek earnestly God to meet this need, we want to seek God first.
Father, be our portion, be our hope, and be everything to our church. Amen.