By Emily’s encouragement, here is a post and poem, inspired by Lamentations 3, that I originally published on my personal blog. As I studied the book of Lamentations–chapter 3 in particular–Charles R. Swindoll’s little book The Lamentations of Jeremiah (Swindoll, 1977) opened my eyes to the depth, beauty, and poetry of this section of Scripture. […]
Last week we looked at the last third of Lamentations 3 and some general takeaways for those of us in chronic illness: staying faithful to God and trusting in Him during a trial. This last week of our study I want to park on the big theme of the whole chapter and the book: waiting […]
Over the past three weeks, we’ve studied Jeremiah’s personal lament over Jerusalem’s destruction and Israel’s captivity, his intentional journey from hopeless to hopeful, and his humble introspection and call to repentance. This week we look at the rest of Jeremiah’s lament and some general considerations for us in chronic illness. Note: I studied this section […]
After looking at Jeremiah’s personal lament and his journey from hopeless to hopeful, both of which provide great encouragement for those of us in chronic illness, we come to a part of the chapter that continues the God-focused, hope-giving theme while introducing a more somber note of introspection. Part 3: Verses 31-42 KAPH 31 For […]
Last week we introduced Lamentations 3 and read Jeremiah’s personal lament in verses 1-18. Today we’ll see a significant shift in tone as we look at the next section of the chapter. Part 2: Verses 19-30 From 1:1 to 3:18, Jeremiah has described “hopelessness,” but verses 19-39 focus on the hope that we have in […]
Some of my friends have named Lamentations 3 as one of their go-to passages during tough times–or the regular tough days of chronic illness. I’ve always seen Lamentations as a beautiful (if not a little depressing) book, but it wasn’t until October when I read it in my devotions that this passage became that life-giving […]
New Year’s is the time when we set goals for a new life, a new “me,” new habits, new this and new that. We can even plan ways to grow spiritually and improve in our walk with God. But setting goals–and keeping them–can be really hard with a chronic illness, especially when it comes to […]
Can you believe it’s the end of 2021 already? I can’t. It seems like we started January yesterday, and here we are coming to another January in just a few days. It’s the time of year when we look back in reflection over the past twelve months and look ahead in anticipation to the next […]
If there’s one thing we understand in the valley of chronic illness, it’s limitations. To be human is to be limited, of course, but to have a chronic illness is to recognize those limitations a little more keenly: all the things we can’t do, all the ways our bodies break down on us, all the […]
The Sunday before Thanksgiving, my pastor preached a powerful sermon on thankfulness. This sermon changed how I look at several aspects of thankfulness and challenged me to be a more thankful daughter of God. With my pastor’s permission, I’m sharing his main points and both our notes with you in the hopes that what God […]
The Valley