DON'T YA LOVE IT?

The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed
never cease, for His compassions
never never fail.

They are new every morning; great
is Your faithfulness.

“The LORD is my portion,” says
my soul, “Therefore I have hope
in Him.”

The LORD is good to those who
wait for Him, to the person who
Him.

It is good that he waits silently for
the salvation of the Lord.

Lamentations 3:22-26

If you don't read another word I write at this time, please...please grab hold of the above verses and squeeze all the spiritual juice you can get out of them. There are times in my reading when I seem to land in a spot in my Bible that is too precious to explain. It may be I had put my pencil or bookmark there with no intention in them being there. I'm not a hide and seek Bible reader. I'm not one to just open my Bible, point on the page and read where my finger lands. I'm not saying God can't lead in that way, but it usually hasn't worked for me. Today, I opened my Bible and there was my pencil, but immediately saw some underlining from time past I had long forgotten about.

I've usually avoided the book of Lamentations as it has seemed to be such a sad book. As I read the underlined verses, I saw a prophet with hope. Times had really been rough to put it mildly and he remembers some of those experiences just above those at the top of this page. In it all, he sees hope, a hope that is based in the mercy of God. I realize this book was written eons ago and would seem to have nothing to do with us in this day. Despite all of the terrible circumstances of his day, Jeremiah still saw God in such a positive light that it is mind boggling. We too should look for God's mercy and goodness in our own day.

I wrote in my Facebook today a statement I had written in the front of my Bible. I have no idea where it came from but helped me in my thinking about Jeremiah's writing. It says:

Until God opens the next door,
praise Him in the hallway.

I believe that statement spells out what Jeremiah was feeling. Circumstances for God's people at the time were terrible with perhaps no light at the end of the tunnel. They had been a people who turned to their own way, not Gods. However, in it all, Jeremiah began to express his own personal feelings about what God meant to him in his own day where sin was abounding.

As I read, I saw words He used with regard to the Lord in his life. Jeremiah lived in a time of sadness but still when he looked at his Lord, he was reminded of His consistent goodness and blessing. He used the words:

lovingkindnesses...compassions...faithfulness...
portion(source of happiness and blessing)...
good...Savior

All of that in the worst of times is how he saw His Heavenly Father. I'm wondering in these days of ours if we ever stop to do the same. God in His mercy has been every one of those things and more in my own life. I'm loving reading those verses over and over, thanking the Lord for the hope He extends me and you as well. We are truly a blessed people.

Father, thank You for how Your word speaks so clearly to our every need. Thank you too for your patience and for the hope You instill in us. In it all, thank You for Jesus and for Your sweet Holy Spirit's presence. In Jesus' precious name...Amen