Lamentations 3:18–24

“So I say, ‘My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.’ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 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.’”

I have spoken to many women lately, all who seem to say with one breath, “My endurance is perishing.” They lament that they are feeling close to the line of surrendering to sadness, grief, forlornness, loneliness, anger, betrayal, disappointment, and weariness.

We have moved from the society of saying, “I am fine,” to a place of brutal honesty about earthly life. And I think there is something good about that honesty. We don’t have to pretend that life doesn’t hurt. We don’t have to pretend that we aren’t tired, grieving, disappointed, lonely, or struggling. Lamentations certainly doesn’t pretend. The writer openly remembers his affliction, his wandering, the bitterness he has experienced, and how his soul is bowed down within him.

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.

That “but” changes the direction of the entire passage. The circumstances didn’t necessarily change in that moment. The grief didn’t suddenly disappear. The disappointment wasn’t immediately resolved. The weariness was still real. But the writer chose what he would call to mind. He reminded himself of what was also true: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is His faithfulness.

I think that is something many of us need to remember in the seasons when our endurance feels like it is perishing. We can be honest about how we feel without allowing our feelings to become the final truth. We can acknowledge the sadness, grief, loneliness, anger, betrayal, disappointment, and weariness while still remembering the character and faithfulness of God.

This life will lead us to eternal life when our hope is in Jesus, the Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. He is our salvation and our Rock. He lifts us up when we have lost our strength and carries us through the places where we simply don’t have enough strength of our own. Our hope is in Jesus, the lifter of our heads and the healer of our souls.

This verse was shared with me this morning, and it was such a great daily reminder that the Lord is with us. We are not walking through this alone. He has gone before us, and He is with us. He is with you.

I encourage you today: The Lord is with you. He is for you. He has not forsaken you. He will see you through whatever it is you are struggling with, even if sometimes it feels like you only have enough strength to make it through today.

Maybe that is part of what it means for the Lord to be our portion. We don’t have to have tomorrow’s strength today. We don’t have to figure out the entire journey today. We simply have to trust Him with the portion He has given us for this day.

“This is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”

So today, I will remember His faithfulness. Today, I will remember His mercy. Today, I will remember that He is with me. My worry for tomorrow does not belong to today.

This portion of Lamentations is enough for today. And if today is all I can manage, then today is enough.

Because His mercies are new every morning.

And tomorrow, there will be new mercy waiting for me there, too.

Great is Thy faithfulness.