What is left? - Pondering Lamentations

                                             Comfort from Lamentations  

For a friend who just lost her son...

I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
So I say, "My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from
the Lord."

I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall,
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fall.
  -- Lamentations 3:17-22 (New International Version)

~~~~~

I gave up on life altogether.
I've forgotten what the good life is like.
I said to myself, "This is it. I'm finished. GOD is a lost cause."

I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed.
I remember it all -- oh, how well I remember --
the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there's one other thing I remember,
and remembering, I keep a grip on hope;

GOD's loyal love couldn't have run out,
His merciful love couldn't have dried up.
   -- Lamentations 3:17-22 (The Message)


Ponder:

Why are we not consumed by the pain and grief and trouble we are in? Because of the LORD's compassion - it never stops....

Yet I call to mind ...the one other thing I remember....

The poet remembers the pain and utter lostness....the feeling of hitting the bottom.....

But the OTHER thing he remembers: God's love never fails....

Still lots of questions.....but GOD'S LOVE NEVER FAILS....

This portion of scripture spoke to me -- most times I just read over it quickly, because I know what is coming next:

Verse 23-24:

 (From the NIV - God's 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."

(From The Message - GOD's loyal love couldn't have run out, His merciful love couldn't have dried up): They're created new every morning. How great is Your faithfulness! I'm sticking with GOD - I say it over and over - He's all I've got left.

Today, for me, verses 23 and 24 work best when read with verses 17-22.....this pain will not consume me.....I will remember the 'other thing'!  He's all I've got left.....