“Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not.”~CS Lewis
There are some days where you can just feel God's love and presence.
But not every day.
Sometimes it feels like we are totally alone. Circumstances are difficult, people are not who we think they are, and we wonder if God really loves us. It doesn't feel like He does. But we have to remember that our faith was never based upon fickle feelings. A single word from another person can change the tone of my whole day. My feelings can be affected by other people, changing situations, Western Civilization midterms, even the weather. We can't trust our feelings. That's why our faith is not based on changing feelings, but an unchanging God who's love never fails.
I found a passage of Scripture the other day that really impacted me, in Lamentations of all places. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't read Lamentations all that often. But this passage, in the context of the surrounding verses, really challenged me.
Suffice it to say that whoever wrote Lamentations was having a really bad day. As I read the context for this specific passage, it didn't take long for me to realize that this person's circumstances were far worse than mine have ever been. The book talks about destroyed cities and starving children in grotesquely descriptive language. I mean, the book is called Lamentations. With that in mind, this floored me.
Right between "my soul is bereft of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is", and "the LORD gave full vent to His wrath", comes this amazing passage:
"My soul continually remembers it [everything in the surrounding chapters]~Lamentations 3:30-36
and is bowed down within me.
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," says my soul,
"therefore I will hope in Him."
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
to the soul who seeks Him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD."
Isn't that amazing? When we are struggling through difficult circumstances, is our response to declare that the love of God never ceases? Do we remind ourselves that His mercies are new every morning, not just sunny ones? Do we wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord? Do we trust His unending faithfulness?
Do we remember that though our feelings come and go, God's love for us stays the same?
Wonderful find! I too tend to stay away from that particular book, but what a gem of a verse! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever - hang your hat on it! Surprising, we don't understand God, there is always more to know, but it is in His magnificence, often wrapped in mystery, that we abandon ourselves to, falling nail-pierced hands of love!
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