Have you ever experienced firsthand brokenness or pain? Maybe it was brought on by the heartbreaking injustice of the world—the feeling of hopelessness that you cannot do anything about the pain and suffering in the world.
When reading Lamentations 2, I am reminded of the horrible things that happen in this world. Lamentations teaches us that feeling emotions are important. Processing these emotions help us cultivate the need and desire to search for the hope that only God can bring. In these poems of lament, we hear God’s people voice their anger that has been caused by sin and violence of the world. Maybe you read these poems and find resemblance in your own life as you look at the world today. These poems are also ways for the people of God to give a voice to the confusion of why these horrible things happen.
As people of God, let us remember that God’s heart breaks with our hearts. When we do things that stray away from God’s word and where he has called us, he hurts because he knows what hurts us. We can put our hope in his call for us to repent of our sins and seek his mercy. As people of God, we can put our hope in the truth that no matter the depth of our suffering or the magnitude of our errors, turning back to God and seeking his mercy is always available to us thanks to his everlasting love. Hold to that truth today and always.
Questions for reflection:
1. How can you lament today? Take some time to journal.
2. Why does Jesus give us hope?
3. How can we as the body of Christ spread that hope to those who need it?