But this I call to mind…

I can still see myself standing there, stranded in a sea of smiling faces, coffee cups, chatter and laughter, while inside I’m screaming with sadness and feeling hollowed out by hopelessness.

But I wasn’t alone.

Her hands hugged my shoulders and her eyes enveloped me with kindness as she spoke into my life, my heart, my emptiness…

‘But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope;

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning.’ (Lamentations 3:22-23)

That coffee shop encounter was about three years ago now.

But I’ll never forget it. What that dear friend taught me that day was that every time a bleak, black cloud threatens to swallow me up, my soul can whisper, speak, shout defiantly at the darkness,

But this I call to mind.

And therefore, I have hope.

For many people I know, these last months have threatened to extinguish hope altogether.

Please don’t forget the quiet inner battles of many around you.

Let’s take one another by the shoulders, look directly into others’ pain, cultivate kindness and speak hope into every lonely, isolated heart we can.

You may have trouble BUT I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Once you were not a people, BUT now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, BUT now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:10)

There is no fear in love. BUT perfect love drives out fear… (1 John 4-18)

My flesh and my heart may fail, BUT God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:26)

What do you need to call to mind today?

H x