Daily Devotions
I Have Forgotten What Happiness Is
Reading for August 22nd: Lamentations 1-2
He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and made me cower in ashes;
my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is;
so I say, "My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the LORD."
Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the wormwood and the gall!
My soul continually remembers it
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."
Lamentations 3:16-24
"I have forgotten what happiness is."
I've never been this low. I've had bad days, bad weeks, bad months, but I've never felt so bad for so long that I could say that I didn't know what it was like to be happy.
I have met a few people who could say this. They had suffered an intense and painful loss. The loss had come because of their own sin (which is worse), or because of someone else's sin, or just because we live in a fallen world cursed by sin. Regardless, something precious and irreplaceable was removed from their life because of sin, and the thought of living with this gaping hole in their life seemed almost unbearable. All sorts of emotions proceeded to take over their thoughts... Loneliness. Fear. Anger. Intense sadness.
What I learn from the inspired writer in this chapter is that even at your lowest point you can still make a choice. "But this I call to mind..." He chose to focus on God's faithfulness. This was not an easy choice. This did not take away the pain or the sadness. But this choice saved him.
Father, my prayer is that every reader of this devotion who is suffering from a painful loss or some physical handicap or chronic pain may find peace. Grant them renewed assurance and confidence in your presence and faithfulness.
