“The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease.” (Lamentations 3:19–22, NLT)
For some people, the holidays are a difficult time. They may have burdens that are difficult to carry. They may have regrets or sadness that saps all joy. While a child may look at a Christmas tree and smile, those with intense pressures will often frown. Their heart is heavy. There is relief for those who suffer in these days. Our scripture for today points us in that direction.
Lamentations 3 tells the story of a man who went against God’s ways and suffered because of it. His thoughts were filled with stories of all that befell him: “The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.” (Lamentations 3:19). The man was suffering in heart and mind and soul. During the day, something would spark the bad memories. At night, he would suffer nightmares. In agony, he wrote, “I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.” (Lamentations 3:20). The suffering he endured lived with him constantly, covering his world in a thick cloak of gloom.
Some of those who have suffered great things in life are filled with thoughts of those dark times. They cannot forget what happened, nor the feelings of how they suffered. Often, they are filled with anger and resentment. The bad past causes burning resentment and consuming rage. Often, they lash out at others, even the innocent.
For months, Joan thought her husband, Harry, had cheated on her. She had a feeling. Now and then when she kissed her husband after work, he would pull away. In those moments, she thought for sure she smelled perfume. In the wash, she found smeared lipstick on the collar of Harry’s work shirt. At unexpected times, her husband would come home late from work. Joan feared the worst. She didn’t want to ask Harry about it, fearing she could be wrong, and it would look terrible on her part. In the meantime, she bided her time, the anger and insecurities building by the day.
Several months passed and Joan was no closer to finding out if Harry was having an affair. New clues surfaced. Hints of something secret in her husband’s life were slipping out. Though Joan confessed to her best friend her fear of the affair, she told no one else. However, the pressure in her had built to huge proportions. Her days were constantly filled with musings about the identity of the woman. Where did they go, and what did they do? Joan and Harry’s moments of intimacy became few and far between. When Joan’s husband said something, it was not unusual for Joan to become snippy and short with him. Though the two never seemed to argue before, now arguments grew more and more frequent. However, Joan was close to finding out the truth. She knew that truth would come out sooner or later. She braced herself for that day, for the life-altering news, for the possible divorce to come.
What Joan didn’t know was that her husband had been seeing a woman from work. The two were not having an affair. She was teaching Harry to dance. Harry knew that Joan always wanted to go on a cruise ship and get all dressed up and dance the night away. Harry knew she loved to dance waltzes and attend formals. For their fifteenth anniversary, he had booked a cruise and learned how to dance to give her the best time of her life! When Harry finally told Joan what was planned, all of Joan’s pent-up emotions burst forth. She cried for hours. Some of her tears were from relief. Others were from regret. How could she question such love? What made her do it? Why had she been so cruel to him in the last months? What would her best friend think of her when she found out what had really happened?
It does not matter if a time of suffering is imaginary or real, the negative emotions will often settle into your heart and soul. They will sear themselves into your mind and imagination. They will cause the pressure to build inside you. Then, like a keg of dynamite going off, you might blast away at someone who is in the wrong place at the wrong time. You might take it out on a dog, an innocent friend, a neighbor. Your pent-up hurt and pain might come out in drinking binges or shopping sprees or fits of rage. If you are unable to deal with these internal struggles, they will often come pouring out of you in a terrible torrent that you will only live to regret.
“Think a moment about a water-saturated sponge. If we push down with our finger even slightly, water runs out onto the table. We immediately know what fills the interior pockets of the sponge. The same is true of ourselves. We can tell what fills us on the inside by what comes out under pressure.” (Robert Schmidgall as relayed on Bible.org). When you are filled with all kinds of emotions, filled to the brim with anger or resentment or hate or hurt or pain that is buried in your heart and soul, the pressure on your insides will often bleed out in your every day interactions.
Chances are that the angry old man in the dilapidated old house, who yells at all the school kids to get off his lawn, is filled with pain and anger. The snippy clerk at the grocery store has a mind that is probably teeming with resentment about something. The curmudgeon behind the desk is surely filled with negative thoughts and anger. What is inside your heart and soul will bleed through under pressure.
When the writer of our scripture for today found himself filled with bitter memories, he found grace and peace in one place. Just look in the scripture for today. When he was tempted by bitterness, the author dared to find “hope” as he constantly remembered that “the faithful love of the Lord never ends! HIS mercies never cease.” (Lamentations 3:21,22). When bitter thoughts ate into his day, the writer here in Lamentations countered that with the love and mercy of God. The man put his pain at the feet of the Savior, his resentments as an offering before God. He LET God ease his burden. He allowed God’s mercy to shine into the darkness of his soul. With that, the pressure was lifted.
As we near Christmas, do you have some pressures that are building in your life? Maybe its time to put them at the altar of God. Let go of your pressures, real or imagined. God is more than strong enough to handle anything you dish out! Do you know how much hope it gives to know that God can take any burden you have right now? Give your pressures to God (leave them in HIS hands) and just see what happens!
Lamentations 3 tells the story of a man who went against God’s ways and suffered because of it. His thoughts were filled with stories of all that befell him: “The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.” (Lamentations 3:19). The man was suffering in heart and mind and soul. During the day, something would spark the bad memories. At night, he would suffer nightmares. In agony, he wrote, “I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.” (Lamentations 3:20). The suffering he endured lived with him constantly, covering his world in a thick cloak of gloom.
Some of those who have suffered great things in life are filled with thoughts of those dark times. They cannot forget what happened, nor the feelings of how they suffered. Often, they are filled with anger and resentment. The bad past causes burning resentment and consuming rage. Often, they lash out at others, even the innocent.
For months, Joan thought her husband, Harry, had cheated on her. She had a feeling. Now and then when she kissed her husband after work, he would pull away. In those moments, she thought for sure she smelled perfume. In the wash, she found smeared lipstick on the collar of Harry’s work shirt. At unexpected times, her husband would come home late from work. Joan feared the worst. She didn’t want to ask Harry about it, fearing she could be wrong, and it would look terrible on her part. In the meantime, she bided her time, the anger and insecurities building by the day.
Several months passed and Joan was no closer to finding out if Harry was having an affair. New clues surfaced. Hints of something secret in her husband’s life were slipping out. Though Joan confessed to her best friend her fear of the affair, she told no one else. However, the pressure in her had built to huge proportions. Her days were constantly filled with musings about the identity of the woman. Where did they go, and what did they do? Joan and Harry’s moments of intimacy became few and far between. When Joan’s husband said something, it was not unusual for Joan to become snippy and short with him. Though the two never seemed to argue before, now arguments grew more and more frequent. However, Joan was close to finding out the truth. She knew that truth would come out sooner or later. She braced herself for that day, for the life-altering news, for the possible divorce to come.
What Joan didn’t know was that her husband had been seeing a woman from work. The two were not having an affair. She was teaching Harry to dance. Harry knew that Joan always wanted to go on a cruise ship and get all dressed up and dance the night away. Harry knew she loved to dance waltzes and attend formals. For their fifteenth anniversary, he had booked a cruise and learned how to dance to give her the best time of her life! When Harry finally told Joan what was planned, all of Joan’s pent-up emotions burst forth. She cried for hours. Some of her tears were from relief. Others were from regret. How could she question such love? What made her do it? Why had she been so cruel to him in the last months? What would her best friend think of her when she found out what had really happened?
It does not matter if a time of suffering is imaginary or real, the negative emotions will often settle into your heart and soul. They will sear themselves into your mind and imagination. They will cause the pressure to build inside you. Then, like a keg of dynamite going off, you might blast away at someone who is in the wrong place at the wrong time. You might take it out on a dog, an innocent friend, a neighbor. Your pent-up hurt and pain might come out in drinking binges or shopping sprees or fits of rage. If you are unable to deal with these internal struggles, they will often come pouring out of you in a terrible torrent that you will only live to regret.
“Think a moment about a water-saturated sponge. If we push down with our finger even slightly, water runs out onto the table. We immediately know what fills the interior pockets of the sponge. The same is true of ourselves. We can tell what fills us on the inside by what comes out under pressure.” (Robert Schmidgall as relayed on Bible.org). When you are filled with all kinds of emotions, filled to the brim with anger or resentment or hate or hurt or pain that is buried in your heart and soul, the pressure on your insides will often bleed out in your every day interactions.
Chances are that the angry old man in the dilapidated old house, who yells at all the school kids to get off his lawn, is filled with pain and anger. The snippy clerk at the grocery store has a mind that is probably teeming with resentment about something. The curmudgeon behind the desk is surely filled with negative thoughts and anger. What is inside your heart and soul will bleed through under pressure.
When the writer of our scripture for today found himself filled with bitter memories, he found grace and peace in one place. Just look in the scripture for today. When he was tempted by bitterness, the author dared to find “hope” as he constantly remembered that “the faithful love of the Lord never ends! HIS mercies never cease.” (Lamentations 3:21,22). When bitter thoughts ate into his day, the writer here in Lamentations countered that with the love and mercy of God. The man put his pain at the feet of the Savior, his resentments as an offering before God. He LET God ease his burden. He allowed God’s mercy to shine into the darkness of his soul. With that, the pressure was lifted.
As we near Christmas, do you have some pressures that are building in your life? Maybe its time to put them at the altar of God. Let go of your pressures, real or imagined. God is more than strong enough to handle anything you dish out! Do you know how much hope it gives to know that God can take any burden you have right now? Give your pressures to God (leave them in HIS hands) and just see what happens!