Lamentations is a book about the pain of real life in fallen world. As many friends in Ukraine wake to 2023, the pain of a broken world is all too obvious. In many other parts of the world, friends suffer for sharing Christ and those who pioneer to the unreached often suffer the most. In the UK context we wonder what this year will bring, and how many prime ministers we will have this year. In such a context and with such realities it would be so easy to become tired, cynical and fatigued with disappointment. Yet I find that those in Christ are not so, but actually display the greatest optimism and certain hope. Why ?
Lamentations 3:23 is well known...
The steadfast love of The LORD never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end;
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
Therefore I will hope in Him.
We have a saying that "a dog is not just for Christmas", reminding us of the daily realities behind dog care which last long after the tinsel wrapped grand gesture. Be reminded when you look at the social media post or bedroom poster, that behind every soft focus image of a fluffy puppy... there is an owner with a bag and "poopascoop". Those friends who saw my Facebook photos of Harvey's bed destruction over Christmas will have seen the reality of dog care after 8 years. Friends who commented have suggested it as a great advertisement and highly effective campaign for not buying a puppy on a whim. Harv. has brought a lot of joy to the family but also at times the same amount of despair. I love my faithful friend, and yet he destroys where I live if there is not much on the TV that catches his eye, and our neighbours are not always blessed by his good morning greetings and barks.
In the same way that we perceive the realities of a Christmas puppy, we can also say on a much more profound level, the faithfulness of GOD is not just for the 1st of January.
Notice 3 things about God's ongoing faithfulness in Lamentations 3.
1)DARKNESS SHINES A LIGHT ON GOD'S FAITHFULNESS:
Read the whole of Lamentations 3. God's faithfulness is known in much deeper ways when we are experiencing dark times and daily need to lean heavily on the arm of grace. Whilst it is one thing to have Lam 3:23 on a bookmark from the Christian bookshop, it is a totally different thing to have it in your heart when everything is falling around you on a daily basis. Here is a deep and profound reality... those who know the brightness of God's faithfulness have been through the darkest of times. In many ways we only truly know God's provision to keep us going when nothing else is there to keep us going. As we pray this verse into 2023 then, we do so knowing that the true reality of God's faithfulness will be seen in the worst of times, as we experience God's glory to shine into them and congruously transform them into even the best of times, as we go deeper with him.
2) HOPE FOR ONE DAY, IN THE CONTEXT OF HIS FAITHFULNESS FOR ALL DAYS:
Notice the verse that comes after 23, which is so less quoted...
"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
Therefore I will hope in Him.
There is a reality check which comes with hard days, which says that one day is enough at a time, or let's just try to get through today. Such humility is a good humility. It is part of what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 6:34, when he urges us to trust in The Father's provision one day at a time. It is the same principle that Jehovah taught Israel in the desert (Exodus 16) with the provision of manna, and the same principle we pray in the prayer Christ modelled as appropriate (Matthew 6:11).
Daily dependence is a decision based on calculated hope. Reminding ourselves each morning in God's word of his steadfast covenant love towards us is congruent to putting our hope in the right place for each day. Such hope has two qualities; it revives because it is fresh hope for fresh problems and challenges, and it sustains as we see the greater and more glorious purposes behind the daily detail. God is weaving history, and the threads of one day make no sense on their own, however as we trace his grace, we see that it runs in the tapestry of history from before the dawn of time, to our preexistence, our birth, our daily breath, our final human breath and to our ultimate destination for eternity and beyond. In all things Christ is LORD. He is the center of all human history. He is the image in whom all humanity finds its place and true identity. He is the one before whom every knee will bow in heaven and one earth. This is where our hope is placed, and nothing can shake it, not even what tomorrow brings, for everything happens under his control and by his will, and good purposes. He does not change even if I mess up beyond my expectations (Numbers 23:19,Titus 1:2,Hebrews 6:18). His faithfulness is not circumstantial on our situation or obedience (2 Tim 2:13). There is great fresh hope each new morning in this bedrock certainty, however badly yesterday went.
3) FRESH EXAMINATION FOR THE NEW DAY AHEAD IN THE LIGHT OF HIS FAITHFULNESS:
Finally notice that the certainty of GOD's faithfulness and grace each day should cause us to examine our hearts each day. Verses 24 -66 are the bulk weight of Lam 3. The appropriate response to God's faithfulness, the dark times we live in, and the certainty of what is to come in Christ, should cause us to allow him to shine his torchlight of grace into our dark hearts each day the sun rises.
There is little brightness in the power outages of war, but Christ is shining brightly in God's people. There is little to be radiant about in a prison cell for those who stand for Christ in a hostile place, but there is a deep joy and contentment which causes others to come to him. This is the reality of his grace and provision. Every new day we call on him, we are renewed and made more new. Is this bad grammar? probably, but the reality of what God is doing as he renews all things, and makes all things new. The sun will set on this earth one day, and a new dawn with GOD being the only and constant light will emerge. That process which Christ is orchestrating, the day before the true dawn, is already in preparation and motion. He is getting his bride ready, and this glorious process has has started in you and I. Each new day we trust in him is a day of preparation and renewal for that final day when all things are new and there is no darkness, pain, sorrow, mourning, tears or challenge from a broken world, body or character. I hope that remains an encouragement for us as we live Jan 2nd to December 31st.
Have a really blessed new year. Praying that each day He gives us will be lived in the certainty of His grace, and that this year you shine brighter than ever, more like Christ, and increasingly renewed in Him.
P
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