Great is Thy Faithfulness...

Lamentations 3:19-33 (The Message)

 

^19-21 I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
    the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
    the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there’s one other thing I remember,
    and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:

^22-24 God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
    his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
    How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
    He’s all I’ve got left.

^25-27 God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
    to the woman who diligently seeks.
It’s a good thing to quietly hope,
    quietly hope for help from God.
It’s a good thing when you’re young
    to stick it out through the hard times.

^28-30 When life is heavy and hard to take,
    go off by yourself. Enter the silence.
Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions:
    Wait for hope to appear.
Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face.
    The “worst” is never the worst.

^31-33 Why? Because the Master won’t ever
    walk out and fail to return.
If he works severely, he also works tenderly.
    His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.
He takes no pleasure in making life hard,
    in throwing roadblocks in the way...

This time of year always reminds me of a time in my past that I went through.  I literally hit rock bottom, and it wasn't pretty.  But even in the midst of that very dark time, as much as I wanted to give up hope, it was as if Hope just refused to give up on me.  There were days where all I could do was just hold my Bible in my hands and not even read it, but His love just wouldn't let me go, and one day, He pulled me out of the pit.  This passage is such a beautiful picture of what He has done in my own life, and as I read it this morning, my heart filled with thankfulness for the mercy of my Saviour.  It reminds me of a song I've been hearing a lot on the radio lately by "Jesus Culture" called "One Thing Remains."  Each time it comes on the radio, I find myself singing along as if it were my own anthem.  (Ok, truth be known, it doesn't take much to make me sing along with a song on the radio, but still!  LOL:)

Higher than the mountains that I face
Stronger than the power of the grave
Constant through the trial and the change
One thing remains
One thing remains

Your love never fails it never gives up it never runs out on me x3 [ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsty.com/jesus-culture-one-thing-remains-lyrics.html ]
On and one and on and on it goes
It overwhelms and satisfies my soul
And I never ever have to be afraid
One thing remains 

In death and in life I'm confident and covered by the power of your great love
My debt is paid there's nothing that can separate my heart from your great love

My prayer today is that even though it's easy to get bogged down when life happens, I will remember that we don't ever have to lose hope.  While friends may grow weary of hearing us share the same sob story over and over, our Heavenly Father NEVER grows weary of us coming before Him with our cares and concerns and troubles.  Just as the passage says, His mercies are new EVERY morning!  I am so thankful that He never grows tired of me, and I pray that I would never grow weary of turning to Him.  It is my greatest hope that my children will see Jesus in me in everything I say and do, so that they, too can learn to turn to Him at every step in their own lives...