It’s Okay to Lament

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Our reading titled, It's Okay to Lament, was written by Julie Schwab. I dropped to my knees and let my tears fall to the floor. God, why aren't you taking care of me? I cried.

It was during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. I'd been laid off for almost a month, and something had gone wrong with my unemployment application. I hadn't received any money yet, and the stimulus check the U.S. government had promised hadn't arrived. Deep down, I trusted that God would work out every day. He gifted us.

I believed He truly loved me and would take care of me, but in that moment, I felt abandoned. The Book of Lamentations reminds us it's okay to lament. The book was likely written during or soon after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 587 B.C.

It describes the affliction, oppression, and starvation the people faced. Yet, in the middle of the book, the author remembers why he could hope. Chapter 3, verses 22 and 23 read, Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Despite the devastation, the author remembered that God remains faithful. Sometimes it feels impossible to believe that the Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him, especially when we don't see an end to our suffering. But we can cry out to Him, trust that He hears us, and that He'll be faithful to see us through. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Lamentations, chapter 3, verses 19 through 26. I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.

I well remember them and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, The Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for Him. The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him. It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Let's pray. Father, the COVID pandemic has been devastating, and under this kind of strain, it has been easy for us to lose hope. Thank you for the reminder that even when we doubt and question, you won't turn us away, but invite us to be honest about our struggles and promise to walk with us through life's most trying times. Please renew our peace and hope today. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.