- First Love
- Posts
- ❤️ First Love Weekly #25: Yet This I Call to Mind
❤️ First Love Weekly #25: Yet This I Call to Mind
Weekly post about God in the daily with encouragements from the Word
Jae Leeholland
July 21, 2024
I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
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.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
Let him sit alone in silence,
for the Lord has laid it on him.
Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
Lately, it’s been feeling like the world around me is moving at a faster pace.
But finding a moment to sit in solitude and silence today— with nothing but a humming AC and dim instrumental music in the background— I am reminded of the beauty of stillness in God’s presence and ruminating on His word.
Reading through Jeremiah and Lamentations these past few weeks, I came to observe a number of similarities between the Judah of old and the world we live in— most notably our deprived spiritual state and casual irreverence towards our Father.
Yet, in the midst of my spirit feeling heavy and burdened with all that is going on, God reminded me through the words of Jeremiah in Lamentations 3 that there is hope, because He is I AM WHO I AM. He also let me know I have the power to call to mind His love that is great and His compassion that is anew every day— and in doing so, find hope not in the principalities of this world but in El Shaddai Himself.
After having been doing exactly what He shared above, I can attest to the fact that the Spirit’s been indeed filling my heart with hope: portion by portion. And speaking of portions, what beauty and wonder lies in knowing none other than the everlasting God is our portion!?
So, I shall wait on Him, quietly— for His Spirit to rule and govern, and for His salvation to sweep this land and wandering hearts.
As I write this, I am reminded of the verse our congregation has been repeating in our prayers:
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
My beloved, in seasons like the one we are in right now, the onus is on us— the children of God— to humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways.
Let us let God take care of things outside of our control; in the meantime, we shall open our hearts to be led by the One who seeks to saturate the world with His love.
With love,
Jae
“You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.” (Revelation 2:3-5)
Reply