Don't miss it!

Today's reading in my One-year Bible contained one of my favorite scriptural promises.  And not just because of how applicable it is to me personally (I'm suffering with a chronic illness) but because, as I scan the relationships of my life, so many of my friends and loved ones can benefit from the boost this passage provides.  First, a little background though. The prophet Jeremiah was assigned by God to "speak" to the children of Israel during the dramatic period that led up to their captivity in Babylon.  The Old Testament book that bears his name recounts the tumultuous activities of God's people as they suffer for rejecting the God that chose them as his own.  The following book, the book of Lamentations, is Jeremiah's collection of laments over the sorrow, destruction and hardship of Jerusalem and its people.  Right smack in the middle of the book's five chapters are 4 verses of hope; 4 verses that people typically memorize (like me); 4 verses surrounded by nothing but misery and pain and sorrow and consequences and hurt and remorse and discouragement; 4 verses that people use to write songs (plural!); 4 verses of beauty that offer incredible hope to people like me and others around me that need a word of encouragement during times of suffering.

Are you ready for it? After chapter upon chapter of shame and despair, Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, says But I have hope when I think of this:  The Lord’s love never ends; his mercies never stop.  They are new every morning; Lord, your loyalty is great.  I say to myself, 'The Lord is mine, so I hope in him' (Lamentations 3:21-24).

Beautiful, huh?  This is the New Century Version translation of this passage however you might know it best from the NIV:  Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:  Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Wherever you are and whatever your heart is struggling with as you read this (conviction over sin, pain due to loss, regret after a missed opportunity, sorrow during suffering), gain the encouragement and hope and love and mercy that this passage promises.  It's real.  Enjoy it as I did the moment I found it tucked away in God's precious Word.