Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 2 Corinthians 7:10.

You are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord turns my darkness into light. 2 Samuel 22:29.

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. Proverbs 4:18.

I loved this today in You Are The Beloved by Henri Nouwen: “Spiritual reading is not only reading about spiritual people or spiritual things. It is also reading spiritually, that is, in a spiritual way! Reading in a spiritual way is reading with a desire to let God come closer to us … The purpose of spiritual reading…is not to master knowledge or information but to let God’s Spirit master us. Strange as it may sound, spiritual reading means to let ourselves be read by God! … Spiritual reading is reading with an inner attentiveness to the movement of God’s Spirit in our outer and inner lives. With that attentiveness, we will allow God to read us and to explain to us what we are truly about.”

I don’t know about you, but I want to be known and understood by Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, so He can help me understand myself. I know I am safe in His hands. And this our final chapter of Lamentations, Lamentations 5, shows us how far the people of Judah have fallen in their day to day existence in captivity. Remember, Lord, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace. Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. We have become fatherless, our mothers are widows. We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price. Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest. We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment. Slaves rule over us, and there is no one to free us from their hands. We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert. Our skin is as hot as an oven, feverish from hunger. Women have been violated in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah. Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect. Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under the loads of wood. The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music. Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it. You, Lord, reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation. Why do You always forget us? Why do You forsake us so long? Restore us to Yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old unless You have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.

When we walk through a darkness that seems never-ending, remember. We all of us walk in the darkness that is this world choosing to turn away from God. And when we take His hand, we take the very hand of Creator God who loves us and will redeem every pain and sorrow and violence this world has brought. He knows the way and His love lights the path we walk together. In the light of His love we see light that is real and beautiful and possible in us and for us. With eyes of faith, we turn away from the lies that consume us…Jesus showed us how. The disciples couldn’t see at first, and neither can we until we take His hand and follow Him. Just like the disciples, we have so much to learn and understand and every bit of that understanding comes from Creator God. And our learning with Him brings a joy we have never before known. We are loved by God. He is our Helper. We are held safe in His love. Remember all the resistance Jesus experienced as He walked in this life? They couldn’t see for the darkness of this world. Jesus could see clearly. He sees clearly still.