Hope For A Heavy Heart

The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.(Lamentations 3:24).

On what beliefs is your hopes built on? Beliefs - trust, faith, hope - have consequences. They shape our worldview and determines how we respond to life and its twists and turns. If your faith is not grounded on a solid foundation, the storms of life will leave you disillusioned. The words “The LORD is my portion...”, paints the picture of a life built on a firm foundation: it simply means "The LORD is sufficient for me". The writer of Lamentations--Jeremiah--seem to be saying, "regardless of my predicaments; God is sufficient". The words of Philip echoes: “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”(John 14:8).

Lamentations 3:24 are words of hope appearing in the center of a quagmire. Jerusalem lies in ruins, its inhabitants have been taken into captivity as a result of its rebellion against God. It was God Himself who was chastising and disciplining His children. The city has become a Ghost town: (Lamentations 1:1-5).

It is this gloom Jeremiah was mourning and lamenting over coupled with his own personal grief:

I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy; though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer (3:1-5).

Poignant! However, in the dark nights of his soul, Jeremiah still found the strength to pen down words of hope. Words that have become the favourite of many. Jeremiah reminisces on the faithfulness of God in his intense moment of heaviness of heart and that brought hope to his heart:

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,”(vs 21-24a).

Hear David also:

Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." (Psalms 73:25). 

It isn't a surprise then that David got the tag a man after God's own heart. His desire; the longings of his heart was towards God. Is your desire towards the Lord that intense?

"The LORD is my portion forever" says Jeremiah and David. Can you also, especially in the face of adversity, confess The LORD is my portion forever? If you are a believer, you should. Whatever engulfs your soul; God has promised never to leave us or forsake us.