Because we bear your name June–July 2026

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22,23).

These are encouraging verses from the Bible. But that is all well and good – as long as things are well and good. What about when they are not?

What about the times you encounter a litany of things going wrong? What about the days when you wake up and can’t see the point in getting out of bed? What compassion and mercies of God are new on those mornings?

These words from Lamentations were written in the heart of a lament – when things were certainly not ‘well and good’ for God’s people. The original Hebrew title of Lamentations is Ekah – the first word used in the book.

The English translation of this word is ‘how’. We read at the outset: ‘How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations!’ (Lamentations 1:1).

We can find ourselves asking why suffering happens, but lament firstly recognises how this suffering impacts us. For example, as you grieve the loss of a loved one, you feel how different life will be without them.

The prophet Jeremiah (who wrote Lamentations) sat in this space of how different things were for God’s broken, exiled people. There seemed to be no hope for them. How could they speak of God’s great love and his unfailing compassion at such a time? Yet Jeremiah did – and he did so at the very heart of the lament!

The Book of Lamentations has five chapters. Chapters 1, 2, 4 and 5 all comprise 22 verses, but chapter 3 – at the heart of the lament – has 66 verses. We miss this structure in our translations, but God’s suffering people would not have.

Their attention was drawn to the heart of the lament, where they heard: ‘Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.’

Jeremiah used a literary device to draw God’s people to find hope amid their suffering. Centuries later, God sent his Son, Jesus, to literally provide hope in the heart of our suffering.

Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us in our suffering – to suffer himself. His death on the cross does not answer all our ‘why’ questions. Even Jesus posed a ‘why’ question from the cross: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Matthew 27:46).

Jesus’ presence in our suffering shows us how deeply God loves and cares for us. We can find hope in the heart of our suffering because we find Jesus there.

Now we can reflect on how different things are for us because of what Jesus has done. Our future is safe in God’s hands. His compassions never fail; they are new every morning!

God’s love and mercy are here for us this day, as they are every day. He has not forsaken us in the past, and he will not fail us in our future. Even in our suffering, Jesus is our hope and our salvation – and he always will be!

In Christ,
Stephen

(LCANZ Bishop Paul Smith is currently on rest and refreshment leave.)

‘Lord Jesus, we belong to you,

you live in us, we live in you;
we live and work for you –
because we bear your name’