It’s January 2nd. I’ve already broken my New Year’s resolutions. The brand-new year that, just 24 hours ago, seemed so fresh and full of possibility is already shadowed in doubt, singed by disappointment, stained by my mistakes. The hopefulness that came with 365 days to do better is now diminished; 364 days to mess up loom hopelessly ahead. I’ll have to slog through another year before I can start all over again.

Have you ever felt this way? I think Jeremiah did. Left behind in a sacked city—a city he’d spent a lifetime preaching to, only to be abused and ignored by his audience—and suffering the consequences of other people’s sin, it’s easy to see why the poem he wrote under these circumstances is called “Lamentations.” A new year, a new start—life, hope, and happiness—these things were nearly unimaginable from the pit Jeremiah found himself in.

In Lamentations 3:17-18, he declares, “My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten good. So I say, ‘My strength has perished, and so has my hope from the LORD.’” Have you ever been here? I have. Whether because of my own actions—my decision to ignore the Word of the LORD—or because of circumstances beyond my control, I have been here: Evicted from inner peace, oblivious to anything good, too weak to get out of bed, and in utter despair that even God could save me now.

And it’s January 2nd. That’s what the whole year looks like: Utter despair.

But one of the most important things to do in God’s Word is to keep reading. KEEP READING. And keep living! Because not even Lamentations stops there; not even the book in the Bible named after the cry of a broken heart stops before God’s light can get through.

Thus Jeremiah continues, crying out to the LORD even though his feelings tell him God isn’t listening: “Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness. Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me. This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope: The LORD’s lovingkindness. We are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:19-23, emphasis added).

Is life hard? Yes. Is life hard because I make stupid choices? Yes. Is life hard because other people make stupid choices? Yes. Is life hard because this physical realm is decaying? Also yes.

But you know what else is a yes? God’s mercy. Every day we wake up, every moment we breathe, is because God said yes to compassion, yes to love, even for people (like myself!) who tell Him no. Every single morning, more constant than the stars, God offers a brand new start to a world full of people who thought—who knew—this was the end. He extends mercy on January 2nd. He extends grace on January 3rd. He offers hope on January 4th. And 5th. And 6th. And…forever.

…

So it’s January 2nd. I’ve messed up. Life hasn’t gone my way. And maybe I’m still living in a sacked city; maybe I’m still facing the consequences of sin. But though peace has rejected me, God has accepted me: “‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I have hope in Him’” (Lamentations 3:23). 

If I am in Christ, if I have obeyed His Gospel in baptism, if I continue to seek His forgiveness and follow His ways, then, yes—I still have plenty of wormwood and bitterness in my life. But it does not consume me! By the power of God, I am “afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).

In Christ, I don’t have to wait until the New Year for a fresh start. I serve a God whose unshakable, faithful love, compassion, and kindness offers me a new beginning every single day. 

And it’s January 2nd. His compassions are new—His lovingkindness is for me! I can’t say, “Happy New Year” anymore; but I can say, “Happy New Day! Have you heard about my merciful God?”

 

 

by Abigail Buchanan