Hope in Sorrow:

Perhaps the recipe for a Happy life isn’t much different than the recipe for a happy day.  How odd to find a clue to happiness in a little book called Lamentations!  It's one of the smallest books in the Bible (the Old Testament).   It's a well-named book; Lamentations is cry of anguish over the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC.  Anyone who thinks of religion (at least the Christian religion) as wishful thinking needs to read this book!  It's true to hard facts of the human condition.  Today there is lots of lamentation in Haiti and in Chili and everywhere the destructive powers of man and nature do their worst. 

Right in the middle of this little book's sad chapters is a cry of joy based on the daily realization of God’s mercies.  Here it is: “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.”The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him” (Lam. 3:22-24).   Favorable external conditions have, for the moment, ceased.  But the writer knows and banks on the fact that the "love of the Lord never ceases".  And that amid the variables of life, God is faithful. 

A solid hope cannot be found in perfect circumstances.  They will not be perfect.  Nor in continued perfect health or abundant wealth.  It must be based on a more enduring reality, on God himself, on God's perfections...his perfect love and mercy.  And these find their perfect expression  in the Savior he sent for us all.   Our prayer for all is Paul's prayer for the Ephesians , “may (God) strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being…to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.” (Eph. 3:16-18). 

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