Lamentations 3:22

Josiah Parr reflects on who God is and what He offers us, in a world that often causes us to grieve.

Josiah Parr

It's a cold February morning; the kind of day you can see your breath as it exhales from your mouth. Tuesday tends to be a busy morning in our house, with early morning rugby practice for my eldest daughter, grocery shopping for my wife and youngest daughter and a walk to work for me. I am by nature an on time type of person, so I really push our family to get out the door on time. At times it feels rather manic, but as soon as I begin my walk to work I am taken into my very own peaceful world.

It's easy in these quiet moments to begin to think about all that the day will hold and all that has to be achieved; to fill the space with my plans and thoughts. That's not why I walk. I walk because I've intentionally set aside time to listen to God's heart for me for that day. With each footstep, I quiet myself and listen. It's not easy though, as I'm easily distracted by school students as they rush by in a hurry to reach school, or by a unique birdsong. In my heart though, I know that today I need to hear God's voice. Nothing comes, so I decide to listen to a podcast; maybe God will speak to me through this. I listen intently and enjoy the speaker, but still find myself restless to hear from God.

I arrive to work quicker than expected. The podcast had invigorated me and caused me to walk faster than expected. As I approach the front doors of our church I realised that I had left my keys at home. There will still be 20 minutes before anyone else arrives, so I sit and I wait until too cold to sit and wait any longer. I pace until my restlessness won't allow me to continue pacing. Finally one of the office staff arrives to my rescue and I can get inside in the warm.

During our staff prayer meeting I was drawn to Lamentations 3:22, 'The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, "The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!'

This is a Bible verse that I am familiar with, but I was surprised to discover that it was from the book of Lamentations. The word lamentations come from the word to 'lament', meaning a passionate expression of grief or sorrow. How could something so hopeful possibly come from an expression of passionate grief or sorrow?

I was recently so surprised when my six-year-old daughter said, "You can't say you love rainbows and not enjoy the rain, because without the rain you will never have a rainbow."

The troubles of our world are real and ever present. We can find ourselves surrounded with reason to lament. In the middle of all this God speaks and what does He want to say? His love and mercy are new today and it will be new again tomorrow and the next day after that. No matter what your day may hold, God has new love and mercy for you.

The last part of the Bible verse says, 'The Lord is my inheritance, therefore, I will hope in him!' There's nothing you have to do to inherit, except be a son or a daughter; no striving, no straining, just receiving the promise that God has for you as a child of the King.

Today might be manic; it might be filled with pressure; you might have even forgotten your keys, but God has new love and mercy to cover you today as your inheritance as a son & daughter of God!