Life often feels like a walk thru the closest memoirs of hell. My roommates' cousin suddenly died of cancer. My friend's grandfather just passed away unexpectedly. My friend's friend killed himself unexpectedly. Two of my friends' uncle is about to die any day now from cancer; he leaves behind two young children and a young wife. One of my closest mentors just lost his friend and grandfather, as well as another friend right after that. Someone I know has just lost their nephew. There are tears spilling everywhere on this campus. Death and suffering stare us all in the face. There are no easy answers, and often there is only silence, the pain gnawing away at our bones, leaving us feeling empty and hollow and alone.
It is in these moments that we must share in the sufferings of Jeremiah during the collapse of Jerusalem, a period of suffering so filled with grief that compassionate women boiled their own children for food. Being a member of GOD's people does not remove us from suffering; we still live in a fallen world in fallen bodies. The Messiah even promised, "My followers will not escape the sufferings of this world." Yet even in suffering, there is hope; in darkness, there is light; in a night of despair, there is the horizon of a better day.
Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul. "Therefore I hope in Him!" The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone and keep silent, because God has laid it on him; let him put his mouth in the dust--there may yet be hope. Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him, and be full of reproach. For the Lord will not cast off forever. Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. - from Lamentations 3
I long for consummation. I long for GOD to bring about his final, victorious work in history to completion. I long for the new heavens and new earth, where we will never again experience any suffering, any pain, any losses; where we will never again know death, grief, or agony of all faces. I long for the day when we will live in a community with GOD and others, living and working in the earth, living lives of joy, peace, contentment, happiness, and prosperity.
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