From the Depths

Lamentations describes someone suffering. Physically. Mentally. Spiritually. His flesh and skin waste away. He becomes a laughingstock. His eyes flow with tears. And most of all, he says God shuts out his prayer. His hope from the LORD has perished.

And then something changed.
Not his circumstances.
What he remembered:
“But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:”

He remembered who God is:
His steadfast love never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end.
The Lord will not cast off forever.
Though He causes grief, He will have compassion.

His suffering had not ended, but neither had God’s mercy.

And then he remembers something else. He remembers what God did:
I called. You heard me. You came close.

You told me, “Do not fear.”

But here’s the thing. Jerusalem was still destroyed. People were still crying. The grief hadn’t vanished.

But God’s mercy did not mean the suffering suddenly disappeared. In that heavy darkness, God heard him and came near. The writer remembers hitting rock bottom, calling from the deep pit. And God met him right there.

That’s why those words “Do not fear” mean something completely different this time. They didn’t mean the pit was gone or that the hard times were over. The suffering had not ended. But the God he called on was with him.

Like it or not, I tend to measure God’s presence by how my week is going. When life is good, it feels like He is right next to me. When everything is falling apart, I am quick to assume He is nowhere to be found.

That is why I love what Lamentations shows me instead.

It gives a picture of a city in ruins and a man drowning in grief. And yet God is right there hearing every cry and telling him, “Do not fear.”

When you find yourself in a low place because of illness, deep grief, or a broken relationship, remember that you don’t have to pray a perfect prayer.

Call on Him. He hears your cry, and He comes near.

FEAR NOT when you find yourself in the lowest place.
BECAUSE GOD IS near when you call.