Lamentations 3

Lamentations Noun |lamənˈtāSH(ə)ns|

Mid-May as I write this post. A few weeks back, I was on the verge of losing it all.

The pressure was too much to bear. Dialysis seemed like a life sentence not only to my mother but to all of us in the family. Fifteen years of surviving kidney failure, and here we are once more. Back to square one. Where things are so totally different. Parents are nearly two decades older. Siblings all married and have kids and lives of their own. I am married and have concerns of my own. And here we are. Brought together by a family crisis that only God knows the end.

Rewind to a few more weeks before that, God gave me Lamentations 3 to meditate upon. Looking back, God must have been preparing me for what is about to come. He was about to take my faith to a whole new level.

21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

No day ever stretches beyond 24 hours. Funny how the obvious can seem like a secret to even the most learned individuals. I have found that I have always lived as though I have more than 24 hours. I work, eat, love, serve, enjoy, etc. then complain that there isn’t enough time. Not enough time for a lot of things. For everything. So what I do is I rollover today’s load to tomorrow. And tomorrow’s to the next day, and the next, and the next and it never stops. What I have failed to see is that I am also doing the same thing spiritually. I have forgotten to live as though there are just 24 hours in a day. I have always tried to take it all in. Mentally, here’s how it looks like in a formula: today’s load + tomorrow’s + the next day’s + and the next + and the next month’s + and the month following that = TODAY’S BURDEN TO CARRY. Talk about overload and an imminent breakdown! This is why Lamentations 3:22-24 necessitates verse 21 “But this I call to mind, therefore I have hope”. I need this because I have forgotten. I have buried such precious truth under my super pre-occupied mind that I would need a spiritual discipline to bring it to memory. While I was reading this, it felt so liberating. How come I have never lived my life this way before? Like I am an android phone that drains all its battery in a day and needs to be recharged shortly for tomorrow. Like my sorrow has an expiration date—no, expiration hour, because it is meant to last for just the day.  I have made myself into a worrier exactly because of this!

My emotional breakdown is not caused by the crisis I think my family is facing, nor the problems that continue to come my way. It is in fact caused by my forgetfulness. I have forgotten what the Bible says. And the Bible, God’s holy Word is supposed to guide me live this life on earth every minute of everyday. I have taken for granted such truth that is supposed to make and keep faith alive in me in the midst of adversity—that the Lord’s steadfast love is never ending—that His mercies are never recycled but are new every morning—that His faithfulness is not just good but GREAT—that He is the portion I have and never will deserve—and that my hope should always find its way at the center of His Lordship in my life! Oh boy did I miss all that!!!

To you who feel the burden of today’s load and yesterday’s, and tomorrow’s, come pray with me.

To you who feel like you’ve cried all your tears out and relief seems still too far away, come hope with me.

To you who have forgotten Lamentations 3, come, and choose with me today…

To walk without fear of the future…

To dream not without the threat of failure but with a promise of victory…

To look at death or pain or adversity in the eye and say “I am not scared of you. God will see me through”

To always remember…The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end.. Yes…they are new every morning.

#btbwrites