(our theme for September)

Lamentations is a book of the Old Testament that mourns the loss of the first temple. The majority of Lamentations is filled with - well- laments. The soulful cry of the wounded asks “God, why have you allowed this?”

Everyone at some point has suffered from loss, poverty, sickness, or the ill will of others’ actions. It feels that God has abandoned us, allowed bad things to happen, or has left us in darkness. How can we live a life of disease, poverty, or ill will without God?

But then we get to Chapter 3 and these verses. Chapter 3 captures the hope that God is with us and that God’s mercy will come with each new morning.

These verses and this context make me stop to ask, when destruction comes, what do we really lose? What do we retain? If the Lord is my portion, my inheritance, then don’t I have everything?

If my foremost desire and prayer is that I have God’s love then I have my heart’s desire.

If I place all of my hope in God then I will see that God is faithful to me and has never abandoned me.

When I doubt God, am I doubting myself and my ability to cope, blind to all that God has given me including God’s love and faith in me?

As one of the most famous hymns ever written states:

Great is Thy faithfulness in me. I do not need to doubt because I trust all will work out in God’s time. When I have wondered, wandered, and wanted, I find that I have wasted so much- wasted energy, wasted time. In the new morning, I see clearly the mercy that is the path God has made for me.

Morning after morning—new mercies I see.

I have never been without. I have never wanted for anything that really mattered.

I have always had everything that I need.

Hope is faith; faith is hope. Hope is love; love is faith. God does not lose faith in me!

God be with me and allow me to always see and feel the hope you have in me. Allow me to always see and feel your love and faith in me as I walk the path that you have set out for me.

Today’s devotional was written by Jill Pope and read by Joey Smith.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.