May 17, 2001
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."
The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
Lamentations 3:21-26
Reading through Lamentations chapter 3 last night and this morning brought me much comfort and hope, Jeremiah was very tempted to despair because of the suffering he faced. Reading verses 1-20 you can literally feel his pain, this is a man in a crisis of faith. Not understanding what has happened he is in the darkest period of his life. He feels that he has no peace, his strength is gone - he has literally come to the point of despair. His suffering was not as a result of his own sin but it's what God had him go through in order to bring God's message to the people. For me, sometimes it's a little easier to endure hard times when I know they're my own fault, I know I deserve it, it's easier to keep everything in focus.. what's really hard is when I suffer and it's not a result of my own sin... in those moments it's very hard to know what God is doing... those are the times I'm tempted to ask "Why God?, What are you doing?" Not understanding, not being able to see the end result in advance makes it more difficult for me to be at peace with what's going on. I am inspired by Jeremiah's heart and vision.... he looked at his life, the pain and suffering and then he called God to mind and that gave him hope, it changed his perspective, it gave him the strength to endure the unendurable. To stand fast when he thought he could not any more. The character and the heart of God is THE foundation of hope in our lives. When he started to look at the character of God he began to see things differently; he started to see what was there instead of what was not. It is by holding on to the faithfulness of God, the promise that he will never leave us, that we can always depend on him. His steadfast love, God can not ever walk out on his people no matter what happens.. he has made a promise and God will never renege on his word. This helps me because recently I've felt close to despair, the questions arise and I wonder what God is doing in my life, will there be an end to it? The temptation to give up seems to always be there but when I lift my eyes and keep them fixed on God I see things differently... I find the strength for one more day because God is faithful.