In my lifetime, I have done my share of lamenting. My wife would probably say it’s better defined as venting, and she’s welcome to her opinion. The point is, there have been many times in my life when circumstances were not how I would have scripted them. Losing my mother when I was only 24 years old, before she had the chance to see my own children. The high-school basketball coach, when he deemed it necessary to take me out of the starting line-up and bring me in off the bench. The lower-than-expected performance rating at work after the economy took an unforeseen downturn.

Yet I am a man full of hope. And this hope is not merely a wish that I cross my fingers for. The hope that resides in me is based in the confidence of a secure future. A future of circumstances that will not always turn out as I would script them, but that ultimately will turn out in my favor. My hope is certain of my mother’s eternal residence and knows that she has seen and will see my own children, and grandchildren. It makes me grateful for the lessons in resilience I learned about life through playing sports. This hope taught me how to be the leader I wanted to be, by emulating good examples and eschewing bad examples. {To be sure, I made my own mistakes. But that’s a different blog.}

This manner of living results in a myriad of common quotes, such as:

“Take the bad with the good.”

“Life is a mixture of sunshine and rain, joy and sorrow.”

“If you want to enjoy the rainbow, be prepared to endure the storm.”

Yet, the very reason these quotes are so prolific is because our human nature is, on the one hand, to wallow in our misery, and on the other, to see through rose-colored glasses. Neither of these all-or-nothing approaches is healthy. Avoid the mistake of either lamenting or hoping, to the exclusion of the other.

I am reminded of the main character in the recent Tom Hanks movie, “A Man Called Otto.” Otto had become a perpetual lamenter. As a result of life dealing with him unfairly (as he saw it), he was closed off from others, saw only what was wrong around him, and became completely miserable. The hope within him was – ever so slowly – rekindled when neighbors pried their ways through the walls he had built and helped him remember the good that not only had been, but still was, around him.

There is a book in the Bible titled “Lamentations”. Can you guess what it is about? Right! It is a book that details the fall of a once beautiful city and powerful kingdom. Yet in the middle of this sorrowful book comes one of the greatest sources of hope we have:

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” – Lamentations 3:22-23

So, I urge you, lament, AND hope! Lamenting serves the very important purpose of remembering. When you remember, you learn. When you remember, you see that along with the bad there has been good.

Hope is what sees you through the lamenting to sunshine, joy, and rainbows!