Lamentations...

  Up until recently, I don't think I have ever read the book of Lamentations. I didn't even know where to find it in my Bible. It just never appealed to me as one of the books that I would get a lot of insight from. Just the fact that Lamentation means weeping, wailing, and mourning made me steer clear and read around it. But the other day I searched for a certain type of verse and came upon one in Lamentations. As I began to read, my eyes were opened. I read the context of the verse, and as I did, I discovered that this portion of Lamentations was exactly what I needed. Among the cries and groans of the Israelites so vividly described in this book was a sign of hope. A sign that even though they were suffering, they knew the true faithfulness and loving nature of God. So as I read, this is the portion that has come to be one of my favorite parts of the Bible...
  "I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed. I remember it all- oh, how well I remember- the feeling of hitting the bottom. BUT there's one thing I remember; and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:
  God's loyal love couldn't have run out; his merciful love couldn't have dried up. They're created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over). He's all I've got left. God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It is a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God. It's a good thing when you're young to stick it out through the hard times. When life is heavy and hard to take go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face. The "worst" is never the worst. Why? Because the Master won't ever walk out and fail to return. If He works severely, he also works tenderly. His stockpiles of loyal love are immense."
Lamentations 3:22-33
  Despite the stressful world we live in, God is bigger and stronger than anything we are facing. His love is enough to cover every area of our problems and then some. He doesn't say there won't be struggles, but He does promise to help us through them and never leave our sides. He makes all things work together for the good of those who love them. There is such peace in that. So my realization of beauty in this is that God knows the struggles we go through.  Cry out to him... moan, sigh, groan if you want, God knows the pain that this world brings and when we are honest with Him about how we feel, it opens up doors for healing and peace. He's with you... he never left.