What's love got to do with it?

Oh yeah. . .I know I'm not the only one who remembers this song. Some of you remember it as well. It's an oldie, but goodie recorded by Tina Turner. For those of you who don't remember it, well. . .sorry. Go to iTunes, download it and enjoy it.

Ok, regardless of whether you're familiar with it or not, this is a great question for those of us in the valley. Read Lamentations 3 and God pierced my heart with verses 21-26 -

21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."

25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

The writer begins with the word "Yet." Which translates "In spite of." In spite of what?, you may ask. In verses 19-20 he says

19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.

20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.

What he is saying is that in spite of all the stuff I've gone through and am going through. . . YET! He's stating that now matter how deep my valley gets. . . YET!!

We all go through valley times in our lives. Each of us will, at some point, experience the valley of life. If you haven't or are not now, you will. Jesus' brother, James, reminds us of this. It's the "whenever" in verse 2 that tells us that this is a when, not an if statement. So take it to the bank - you're going to have valley times in your life.

Now that that's settled, let's move on to the purpose of the question, What's love got to do with it?

In verse 21 we find that we have hope. So many of us are looking for a glimps of hope. Let me assure you it's there for you. Why? Because of God's great love. It all hinges on God's great love for you and me. I'll show you.

Because of God's great love we have God's fresh, new mercy, or compassions, each and every day - no left over mercy here.

Because of God's great love His compassion never fails - it's always there.

Because of God's great love we receive God's faithfulness and He is our portion - He'll never let us down or walk away from us.

Because of God's great love we can wait on God - and stop trying to force or manipulate things on our own.

Because of God's great love He is good to those whose hope is in God and seeks, or pursues His heart - He takes care of His children.

Because of God's great love we can wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord - we can wait for his rescuing and leading us out of this valley.

Don't know about you, but those are some powerful words. They speak truth about God. They teach you and me that because of God's great love we have hope in Him.

Thank you, my Lord, that in the midst of my valley you still extend your great love and with it, its many blessings. . .its benefits. My life, nor my situation, is too far from you and your great love.


So what DOES love got to do with it? Everything.

Valley experiencers thank the Lord this morning for His great love.

Mike