Tuesday, December 26, 2023

HEARTBREAK TO HOPE!

Legitimate reasons for lament can bring darkness into one's life....even in the midst of the joy of the Christmas season.
Dark clouds require deep mercy, as Mark Vroegop says.This morning as I jot notes for my "dear to my heart," cousin Joy's funeral, I am asking for that mercy. Lament is pain that can lead to trust. May my time in His word lead me to that today.
Lament tunes the heart so it can sing about trust. (Vroegop, p. 82)
I am still struggling. "How long O Lord?" (Psalm 13:1) 
Help me to discover the grace of "lament" during this dark time.

May this lament fuel my faith.

May I place my broken heart in God's hands today and lean into the hope only He can give.
As I remember Brenda Joyce Davenport Tanley at her funeral, may my words offer hope. Others my call her Joyce but ever since childhood, she's been "my Joy."

Transform me, O Lord that others might see Christ in me, the hope of glory! For in your presence is fullness of joy and pleasures  forever more. (Psalm 16:11)