Not Forever

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 338, Not Forever.

"For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love." Lamentations 3, verses 31 and 32.

I want you to hear that again — not as a nice phrase, but as what it actually is: an anchor. Jeremiah did not write these words on a good day. He wrote them surrounded by smoldering ruins, standing in the ash of everything he had known. And yet, from the very bottom of the deepest grief imaginable, he found a foundation that would not give way. Not a comfort — a truth. One that held him when everything around him had already fallen.

And the heart of that truth is carried in two small words: not forever. "The Lord will not cast off forever." My friend, those two words change everything. God's silence has an expiration date. The pain you are carrying has an edge — it does not go on into eternity. What feels permanent to your eyes right now — that weight you wake up under, that situation you've nearly stopped believing will ever change — it is temporary before Him. Temporary. Not forever.

Now, this text is honest — it does not dress the pain up. It says that God sometimes permits grief. And that can be hard to sit with. But listen carefully: it does not say God is the author of evil. It says He is sovereign even over hard seasons. And the news that changes everything is this — He is never a distant spectator. He is present in the weight. Not watching from the edge — inside it, with you.

And then comes this powerful verb: "he will have compassion." Not a vague intention. Action. Movement. And the greatest proof of that movement is at the very center of the gospel — the Father did not stay at a distance waiting for you to reach Him. He sent the Son to come down to where you were. Christ is the compassion of God with feet, with hands, with a voice. God's compassion always finds its way back to you.

And that compassion — hear me now — is not measured in drops. The verse says: according to the abundance of his steadfast love. The abundance. There is no situation in your life large enough to exhaust that reserve. The love that raised Jesus from the dead — that same love turns toward your life today, with the same force, with the same resolve. Nothing you are going through is bigger than that.

So here is what I want you to do — before breakfast today, before the noise of the day gets loud. Think of one situation in your life that feels permanent and heavy. The one you've almost stopped praying about. Take a piece of paper and write two words: not forever. Then pray. Ask God to shift your perspective on that situation today. Not someday — today. Because the word has already been spoken: the Lord will not cast off forever.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.