I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 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.” For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men. (Lamentations 3:19-24, 31–33, NIV 1984).
My Musings – In the midst of laments (grief, sorrow, regret), there is reason for hope for God’s children. We may be “downcast” for a season, when God “send[s] affliction or grief” into our lives. But we will not be “consumed.” We will not be “cast off by the Lord forever.” For “great is [His] faithfulness.“
My Advice – “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13, NIV 1984). Because He is “faithful,” He may bring “bitterness and the gall” when discipline is needed, albeit “not willingly.” Because “He cannot disown Himself,” we will not be “cast off by the Lord forever.”
When “we are faithless,” we need to repent and seek His forgiveness. “He will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.” Then our laments will not be about the “affliction or grief,” that we actually brought on ourselves, but about having afflicted Him with grief in the first place by our faithlessness.
The Brew Is A Musing 