Sunday, August 7, 2016

Pain And Faithfulness

August 7 (Lamentations 3:21-23)


But this I call to mind,    

     and therefore I have 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.  (ESV)


For twenty verses the writer of Lamentations has gone on and on about suffering.  He speaks of broken bones, wasted flesh, and pain like arrows driven into his kidneys.  There are twenty verses of some of the most graphic pain descriptions.  And then come these verses.

Do you have twenty verses of pain?  Of course you do, which is why these verses feel like cool, soothing medicine.  It is why these verses became the basis for one of the great hymns, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”  Suffering is real, and it is a false religion or false philosophy that pretends otherwise.  Emotional and physical pain will be part of the world until Christ returns, “but this I call to mind….”

Can you call to mind examples of His love, not just in Scripture, but in your own life?  Can you call to mind examples of His mercy?  The incredible, wonderful, amazing thing is that even if you recall acts of God’s love and mercy toward you from yesterday, you will, for a fact, experience new ones today.


Father, great is Your faithfulness indeed.  Even when my faithfulness to You is weak or lacking, Your faithfulness and goodness toward me never cease.  Help me to focus more on the verses of Your grace than the verses of my pain.  In the name of Jesus, in Whom I live and move and have my being, amen.


Copyright © 2016 by Steven R. Perkins

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