And finally…

Today we reach the end of the book of Lamentations. I’m not great with endings. If the book ends with everything all sorted out and every loose end tied up, then I’m mad because it’s not like real life. If the book leaves me with too many unanswered questions, then that leaves me equally mad. Because actually, a book can never end. There’s never a good place to stop. There’s always more to come.

It’s the same with this collection of poems. I guess a sensible place to stop would be here at the end of verse 20.

You, Lord, reign for ever;
your throne endures from generation to generation. Lamentations 5:20

This affirmation ties things up nicely. It’s where you would expect this pouring out to God to conclude. It’s where every good sermon on the subject of suffering would end. Even though it’s pretty out of character with all that has come before. It seems a bit out of the blue. There’s not been much sign that the poet has reached a place of such acceptance and faith just yet.

And actually, the book does not end there. It ends here.

You, Lord, reign for ever;
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.  Lamentations 5:19-22

With an awful lot of unanswered questions. An element of pleading. A desire to make sense of things.

And so it seems that we can affirm that God is God and that God will always be God, but still have unanswered questions, still struggle with making sense of what is happening to us. The loose ends may never ever be tied up. We may never ever have the answers. We may never ever understand. Life is messy and chaotic and confusing and frustrating.

All that we can ever know for sure is that God is God and that He has promised to be with us.

The story is not over.