Lamentations 3:40-44, ““Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: “We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven. “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity; you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.” Lamentations 3:40-44 ESV
What a gift that God purposefully allowed these words to become part of His Holy, inspired word. These verses are proof that God wants us to bring everything to Him, honestly.
For 5 years, I have recorded every meal, medication, poop, poop details, drinks, all details that make up the big picture of Jackson’s gut health. This has helped me to make shifts and those have been helpful – but even more so this has became a living history of my raw emotions going up to the Lord. My tears, frustrations, unknowns, so much effort, sometimes no gains, only setbacks….
The speaker of Lamentations in 3:44 said, “You God have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.”
It is ironic he said this as a line in prayer to God. Even if you feel like your prayers are not being heard, keep praying! Despite the speaker’s doubt, clearly God did hear this prayer since it is recorded in His Scriptures!
The text began with a call to “test and examine OUR ways” and return to the Lord.
The people had not even asked for God’s forgiveness, let alone repented or turned, but here we see the speaker beginning to make this shift. Healing takes time.
Psalm 147:3 says the Lord, “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds”. Whether our heartbreak is an underserved outcome of others sinning against us or even if it’s caused by our own sin, God forgives those who seek His forgiveness.
He comforts. He mends.
For the first time this year, I am throwing away huge stacks of these “remembrance” pages. My Savior knows Jackson and He sees me. I am trusting Him and I will keep praying these special prayers for my special boy, knowing God will heal, forgive, and mend. ❤️
The harshness of my words filled our home this morning. Fill in the blanks here and it is possible what I said to my husband was worse still. What started off with a sudden wake up due to dogs barking and cats meowing turned into the ugliest session of not choice first fruits from my mouth. Our very loving but too domesticated dog Barnabas will not poop in the rain, living in the PNW this is a PROBLEM to say the least. I let him outside only for him to bark to get back in and place a perfectly positioned poop right in front of the Christmas tree. Before I get this cleaned up, the cats also seemed to have a struggle session and one of them used the bathroom in our bed! I am running around trying to clean this up, quietly, while my son is still asleep on the couch getting some of his best sleep that he has had in several nights…with each step I took my foot falls became louder, my heart rate faster, and the ugly parts of my heart started to bubble out from my mouth.
James really knew what he was saying when he proclaimed, “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body…”
My husband was calmly doing his morning routine, this seemed to only make me even more frustrated. I then did the worst thing possible – I began to run through the list in my head of how I always get stuck doing all of the things. I work, I mom, my son is autistic, I have slept (barely) on the couch for 6 nights, now I have tons of laundry to do, Jackson still has hand, foot, and mouth disease, I haven’t wrapped any presents…. Sister the list just went on!
"Remember my affliction and my wonderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me." (Lam. 3:19-20).
I knew this was not the way. I am so blessed and even in this season of sickness and what feels like total isolation, even beyond the normal isolation that I (we) feel as a family affected by Autism, God has been present! We have had peace that surpasses understanding even in high fevers, emergency rooms, and everywhere in between. We have been graceful to each other as Christ is towards us… But in a moments time I forgot. I chose to see my circumstances as bigger than my God. I forgot that the enemy hates marriages and is after our children.
When my husband left for work my heart was heavy, my soul was what the writer of Lamentations referred to as, “bowed low” within me.
And then in a moment of what could have ONLY been the prompting of the Holy Spirit- I grabbed my prayer journal and began writing down all of the things I have been GRATEFUL for these last several days. Friend let me tell you – darkness will flee from the presence of God’s light. It took mere moments for my heart to soften and for my rage to be replaced by the deep awareness and need to repent. I prayed, I opened my Bible, and I got back to my study in Lamentations that has been on an extended pause this last week. And God’s Word, His living Word, spoke directly to what my soul needed.
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".
In Lamentations 3:18, we see the speaker say, “his endurance has vanished” and in 3:20, “his soul is bowed low”…. His soul was remembering his affliction continually…
BUT – the man has a turning point – he CHOOSES to do something important. The mans situation felt dark and hopeless. In Lam. 3:21 the man says, “But this I call to mind…”
Dr. Christopher Wright describes this verse in this way,
“It is the deliberate, determined, teeth gritting decision to call something to mind.”
This was not a reaction based purely on feelings – pay attention here – THIS WAS AN ACTION OF WILL!
Consider how Godly Grief is different than Worldly Grief:
2 Corinthians 7:10-11, "For Godly grief produces repentance that leads to Salvation without regret. Whereas worldly grief produces death."
Simply defined: Repentance is regret for having lost God's approval, which leads to a commitment to reverse one's conduct and live for God. Worldly grief is grief brought about by loosing the world's approval, this leads to trying to regain that approval, and this produces death or divine judgment.
Lamentations 3:23 says, God’s “mercies” are new every morning. This refers to not only a literal morning but also figurative as well. Every night we go to bed knowing the sun will rise the next day. The morning will come. The same is true of God’s mercy.
Even when it feels dark, the daylight of God’s illuminating GRACE and HOPE is on the way. Recall this truth to mind when times are hard. And the best way to call this truth to mind is remember it.
These few verses in Lamentations this morning reminded me of these foundational truths:
God’s love is steadfast. It never leaves us or changes.
God’s mercies never end, they are new everyday.
God is faithful.
God is my portion, in Christ I lack NOTHING.
God ALONE is where I find HOPE that never ceases.
Every Advent I pray that the Lord will reveal Himself to me in a new, deeper way. This morning, this last week, He did that experientially.
Friends, I pray my blundering moment this morning reminds you too that God’s mercies are new every morning. We are victorious in Christ – we have the FREEDOM to CHOOSE HIM. And in Him we will find everything we need.
New book study! This month I am embarking on a verse by verse journey through Lamentations in the Old Testament.
One of the reasons I specifically wanted to slowly delve into this book is to uncover its profound insights on Biblically expressing our emotions.
I want to comfort people in a Biblical way, embracing the Bible’s holistic approach to our well-being.
Emotions can be messy and confusing. Bob Kellemen, a renowned former professor of biblical counseling at Faith Bible Seminary, sheds light on ways to express our feelings in a God-honoring manner. These same principles are beautifully woven throughout Lamentations as well.
First, there are two unbiblical ways to express emotion:
1. Out of control expression
Over controlled suppression
Out of control expression means indulging all of our feelings without any filter. It is what the Apostle Paul warned against in Ephesians 4:19 when he said people had sinfully “given themselves up to sensuality.” They did whatever they felt. Feelings became their god instead of their feelings directing them towards God.
Over controlled suppression means stuffing our feelings down or pretending they don’t exist. Paul also called this out in Ephesians when he said, “Be angry and do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26). Though it is not ok to sin, it is OK to acknowledge anger. Denial or self-deception towards our feelings does not work.
Where we see this in Lamentations: Lamentations is not a rant or an unmeasured outburst of feelings. It is a carefully constructed expression directed to God (e.g., “O LORD, behold my affliction” Lamentations 1:9). Yet the poet also did not suppress the very real hurt and pain he and others felt (e.g. “For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears… “ Lamentations 1:16).
Lord, enable and teach me to measure my emotions in a Holy way today. 🙌🏻❤️🙏
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV
How important is imagination to you? Remember as a kid using our imagination to play? We may have created worlds, stories, characters all by imagining what could be. Sadly, for many of us, practicing our imagination slowed down as we became adults. Honestly, this is a tragedy.
Reading brilliant fiction like C.S. Lewis and his space trilogy, Perelandra, or Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings stirs our imagination and helps us exercise a muscle that is actually vital to the Christian life.
In Ephesians 3:20, when Paul says, “more abundantly than all that we ask or think,” the English word “think” is the Greek word noeo, which deals with imagination. Paul expects us to think and imagine in anticipation of all that God would do for us, and reminds us that the spot where our imagination is exhausted, the good things God has for us expands even beyond that.
God’s intended and desired good for us is beyond our imagination and is possible because it is rooted in the power of the Spirit within us. (Ephesians 1:19)
There are some things that we ask God. There are some things that we think but do not ask because we are afraid they are “too much.” There are other things to which we could pray that are so grand, we haven’t even thought to pray them yet.
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27 ESV
God is not just able – He is MORE than able! 🙌🏻
The depth of God’s Word is amazing. Lingering in these two verses this morning blessed and convicted me in a NEW way. This morning when I woke up, I was thinking of my prayer journal and all of the prayers the Lord has answered and then out of nowhere I had the thought of “hmmm, I haven’t lifted up any BIG BOLD prayers in awhile”… I moved along in the morning not really thinking about that again until this morning’s Bible time.
The Lord really met me and expanded upon this mornings waking thought through these two verses.
Paul opens up Ephesians by clearly stating his identity:
“This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 1:1
Then – In Ephesians 1:4-10, Paul immediately begins by reminding us of our identity. Our identity in Christ is that we are holy and dearly loved children of God. We get this identity when we receive God’s gift of salvation through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. This identity is not based on us, but rather, it is placed on us because we have been adopted into God’s family. Just like when a baby is placed into a family either through birth or adoption, they become a son or a daughter and take that family’s name as their identity. It is the same with our identity in Christ.
This isn’t because of our work, our successes or how good we try to be. We become children of God by grace through faith in Christ.
Paul wants our spiritual identity to frame our minds and thoughts. He desires to help us think rightly so that we may speak and act rightly.
An important truth is that our adoption to the Father is an action of pure love by a God who is not impersonal, but deeply connected and concerned with the objects of His love, you and I! 🥰🥰🥰
I was reminded of this powerful truth this morning – the longer I walk with the Lord sometimes I forget just how broken I was before I surrendered everything to him, and before I understood that my identity comes from him. I grew up in a deeply broken home. My father’s hands were representations of pain, hurt, abuse. My mother was so concerned with her own survival that she represented competition, coldness, self centeredness. This all led me to believe I was unworthy of love, safety, I felt as though I had no value.
Just hearing the simple gospel message had the power to begin to change me, it made me spiritually new, but it did not do the deep work inside of me to change where I found my own identity – only through diligent study of God’s word and submitting everything to him first before the world – have I been able to come to know and believe that I am my father’s daughter.
Friends, let’s not forget that our adoption as children of God comes with an expectation. When we remember and think of the great and glorious truth of being adopted by the King of heaven and earth, and that we share in the inheritance of the King, it should result in a desire to reflect and live up to the standard of the King and His Kingdom. This means instead of just going along with what the world deems acceptable in our thoughts and our words, that we set a higher standard for ourselves to “be holy and blameless before him” (Ephesians 1:4). To be holy and blameless includes allowing the truth of our adoption to lace the words that come from our mouth and inform every action of our hands and feet. It doesn’t mean we will always do this perfectly, but it does mean that we are daily checking and intentionally redirecting our thoughts and our words to stay in line with God’s instructions. It’s not because we are guilted into it but because we desire to stay free of the entrapments of the enemy that come from thoughts polluted with lies and words tainted with bitterness, slander and harshness.
Adoption means we now have God as our Father. It means that we receive the inheritance that could only legally be given to a son.
“When the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the people shook with fear, for that tribe was important in Israel. But the people of Ephraim sinned by worshiping Baal and thus sealed their destruction.
Now they continue to sin by making silver idols, images shaped skillfully with human hands. “Sacrifice to these,” they cry, “and kiss the calf idols!”
Therefore, they will disappear like the morning mist, like dew in the morning sun, like chaff blown by the wind, like smoke from a chimney. “I have been the Lord your God ever since I brought you out of Egypt. You must acknowledge no God but me, for there is no other savior.
I took care of you in the wilderness, in that dry and thirsty land. But when you had eaten and were satisfied, you became proud and forgot me. So now I will attack you like a lion, like a leopard that lurks along the road.
Like a bear whose cubs have been taken away, I will tear out your heart. I will devour you like a hungry lioness and mangle you like a wild animal.” Hosea 13:1-8 NLT
Maybe the idea of carved images and pagan alters built on hillsides can feel far away from the practices of our current day. Maybe we’re tempted to read the prophecy of Hosea as though from a safe distance, believing the problems of God’s people and Hosea’s time are unrelated to today- self-centeredness however, is a problem for all people, including you and me.
 In Hosea’s day the people of God became enamored with and distracted by what Jesus would call “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things” (Mark 4:19). And the more they forgot God, the more irrational and immoral, their lives became. In Hosea 13:2, we even see that the people were willing to “offer human sacrifice” yet “kiss calves” made of metal- they valued false gods made by humans more than they valued humans made by God.
It would be remiss of me not to mention abortion here. Abortion is the baal worship of our current day. The self-centerdness of the “my body my choice” movement is nothing less than pride and the forgetfulness of God. Two pre-born human beings are murdered every minute of every day in the United States of America.
Just like in the times of Hosea, we too deserve God’s wrath but He remains patient.
God is showing you mercy right now, begging you to turn away from your sin and be reconciled to him. I love you and believe that the Lord is not slow about his promise but is patient toward you not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:8-9).
I was once an enemy of God too, but it was his grace that saved me and set me free to follow him. It would be hateful to withhold this truth from you when you have the chance to be washed clean and reconciled to your Creator. Today is the day of salvation. God‘s judgment will not delay forever.
This weekend while I was away Jackson was so brave and really did his best to utilize his tools and coping skills that we have built into our home. My family also did their very best to support him and let me have a weekend away, seeking the Lord with other women.
It always takes a full day or two for me to not have half my mind at home, a quarter dealing with guilt and a spirit of fear, and a quarter actually present in where I am at. But praise the Lord that He did not give us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:2).
Saturday night when I was really beginning to feel undivided – Zac calls me to say Jackson had locked the both of them out of his truck while it was running on some logging road, he needed my help and he was using a strangers phone. If I am being honest, it did take me a moment to pivot back to the thing I had been trying so hard to not worry about! But in that the Lord was so good to bring “stranger Steve” to my family, so they could use a phone and he gave them a ride home to get Jackson out of the woods in the dark. I got a roadside assistance driver dispatched and what should have taken him 3 hours actually only took about 40 minutes! He showed up and stranger Steve stayed at the end of the road to be sure he saw where Zac was.
I was praising the Lord and the enemy wasted no time trying to come after my family and my peace in my praising. But the enemy is weak compared to our God. 🙌🏻
I continued to praise and went back into the retreat. My family struggled in the hard in the middle of the night into the morning and day. Jackson’s meltdown came after as I am sure he was trying to process what all just happened- Zac was scheduled to teach in kids class but couldn’t do that while getting little sleep and with our son’s needs so high. A brother and sister graciously covered for him and us. ❤️🙏 It took a huge amount of humility for Zac to ask for help, this is kind of a weak spot of ours.
Meanwhile, I had no choice but to lay it all at my Savior’s feet and surrender it to Him – while I worshipped and covered my home, my husband, my son, in prayer.
God somehow strengthened ALL of our dependence on Him this weekend in a way least expected but also so true to Who He is – He is with us in all times and especially in the hards.
When the enemy whispers the lie that you are not known, seen, or understood –
Shout with praise the truth that God has an all-inclusive knowledge of us, our kids, our family members and friends. He knows us more than anyone else, even more than we know ourselves.
“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.” Psalms 139:1-5 NLT
Thank you Lord for placing us in circumstances and situations to remind us of your sovereignty and our need of dependence on YOU alone Lord.
Guys – the enemy is a liar. 🤥 Our God is with us and He is fighting for us. 💕⚔️⛓️💥 Cover your home and your people in prayer. 🙏
The Meek Momma 