FROM DESPAIR TO HOPE
Lamentations 3:22-23
There are moments in life when it feels as though nothing will ever be the same again. One might feel shattered, too afraid to even hold on to hope. While we may intellectually understand that brighter days will come, our overwhelming despair makes it nearly impossible to move beyond our grief and sorrow. In such times, the music of the soul ceases, and the heart loses its joy.
The Prophet Jeremiah encapsulated such despair in his book of “Lamentations,” a collection of sorrowful songs dedicated to Jerusalem after its destruction by the Babylonians. While acknowledging God’s power and justice, Jeremiah vividly describes the feeling of being utterly forsaken. He cries out, “Why have you utterly forgotten us, forsaken us for so long?” (Lamentations 5:20).
If you ever find yourself in this emotional abyss, take comfort in knowing that you are not alone—God completely understands your anguish. The Only Begotten Son of God, Our Lord Jesus Christ, experienced mockery and torture from His enemies, betrayal by those close to Him, and even cried out in unimaginable agony, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34).
Yet, in the end, “God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11).
From the darkness of despair, the prophet Jeremiah fixed his gaze on the light of this very promise of God’s salvation, on Christ, and that’s why he could find the strength to express faith even in desperation, uttering words that have inspired hope for countless believers over the centuries: “The mercies of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).
Very Rev. Fr. Mesrop Parsamyan
