God's Loyal Love

^{Have you heard the story of the Chinese artist who painted a picture which he entitled "PEACE"? And before you start imagining some idyllic scene of sheep quietly grazing in a beautiful sunlit meadow, with a gentle brook flowing through, or a sunset over the golden sea, no, it isn't like that! His picture is of a waterfall smashing down over the rocks, thundering down the chasm. You can see the fierce power of the water and you can imagine the noise. In the midst of this on a small ledge just out of reach of the torrent is a dove on her nest. Chaos and noise all around her, but she is serene on her eggs, and soon there will be chicks, to be guarded and protected under her wings. Peace does not depend on our circumstances, but on our hearts knowing peace and rest in the midst of the storm.}  
God is the One Who promises us security in Him, under His wings, a "circle of quiet" as it puts it in Psalm 94:12 (the Message)
"How blessed the man you train, God, 
      the woman you instruct in your Word, 
   Providing a circle of quiet within the clamor of evil"
Here are some words I discovered in the book of Lamentations this morning:
"trouble",
      "utter lostness", 
   "taste of ashes", 
          "the feeling of hitting the bottom"      (Lam 3: 19 Message).
I wonder if any of these words describe something of what you feel today?Are there storms in your life?
Jeremiah, the writer of these words, felt abandoned and nearly gave up hope, but he remembers - and as he remembers, he "keeps a grip on hope"! 
And WHAT does he remember?
"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 your faithfulness!
I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over)."}  (Lam 3:22)
Wherever you are today, remember this - God's love can't run out or dry up. Say it over and over! Others may not be able to help you, but 
^"the Master won't ever walk out and fail to return"! (Lam 3:31 Message)
God will never abandon or desert you. He wants you to know His love for you in new ways every day. Verse 25 of Lamentations 3 declares:
God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,

   to the woman who diligently seeks.
It's a good thing to quietly hope,
   quietly hope for help from God.