When I was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, I experienced loss. I was only 34, but I lost my identity as a healthy person. I lost my plans for the next several months as my calendar was wiped clean and replaced with chemo treatments in another state. I lost my confidence in my future expectations about seeing my kids grow up and growing old with my husband.
I know you’ve dealt with loss, too. Loss brings grief because good things have been taken away.
The author of Lamentations also experienced loss. He lost his home—the Promised Land that God gave to His people to be their inheritance (Joshua 14:1). The people of Judah were taken away from the land God had given them, and the city of Jerusalem fell to Babylon and was destroyed.
Over the past week weeks, we’ve seen how the author of Lamentations responded to this suffering by remembering God’s never-ending mercies and great faithfulness. In the next verse, he declared another reason for his hope:
“‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’”(Lamentations 3:24)
When he said the Lord is his portion, he was referring to a share of an inheritance, like the land that was portioned between the tribes of Israel in the Promised Land. Worldly gifts like land, relationships, health, and money can be taken away, but our inheritance in the Lord is eternal (Ephesians 1:11-14, 1 Peter 1:4). Even when we suffer loss, the Lord is our portion.
We find this idea echoed in two of my favorite verses from the Psalms:
“The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” (Psalm 16:5-6)
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26)
This Valentine’s Day, you may be celebrating with loved ones, or you may be grieving unrealized dreams or heart-breaking loss. Either way, you can find your hope in this: those who believe in Christ have the most spectacular inheritance in the Lord. He has promised to be your portion forever.
No matter what you face this week, place your hope in the Lord and your inheritance in Him.
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