Reading: Lamentations 3-5
Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever; Thy throne from generation to generation. Wherefore dost Thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time? Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. But Thou hast utterly rejected us; Thou art very wroth against us (Lam. 5:19-22).
Verse after heart-rending verse, Jeremiah flooded the pages of God’s Word with his anguished cries of abandonment and loss. I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light. Surely against me is He turned; He turneth His hand against me all the day (Lam. 3:1-3). Yet, even amid his pain and despair, Jeremiah never lost sight of the absolute truth of God. Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation. Although he was so spiritually crushed that he could not draw comfort from it at the time, Jeremiah never once doubted God’s absolute sovereignty over all His creation. Jeremiah had momentarily lost all hope (for himself and Israel as a whole), but his faith in God was not shaken.
It is easy for us to proclaim the Lord’s sovereignty over all when we are standing in the sunshine, rejoicing in the beauty of the day He has made. And He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain (II Sam. 23:4). We have no problem proclaiming the perfect nature of His plan when we are being buoyed by His blessings and enjoying His bountiful gifts. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end (Jer. 29:11). We are content in such times to expound upon God’s perfect timing, how He is never early or late. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (II Pet. 3:8).
Such proclamations are much harder for us to make when we find ourselves caught in the heart of a storm. When disaster after disaster befalls us (either natural or manmade). When we either have lost or are in imminent danger of losing all that we hold precious and dear and know there is nothing we can do to change it. When we prematurely come face to face with our own mortality or the mortality of a loved one and realize that control is an illusion and that we have no power over life or death. In these times, we don’t want to believe that God is truly in charge. We don’t want to believe He is allowing this to happen to us. We comfort ourselves by saying that the devil is at work but that God will prevail in the end, willfully refusing to understand that the storm has a place in God’s plan just as surely as the sunshine. This was something that Jeremiah never once doubted.
Jeremiah knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was directing his steps, even when they led him down a path that he was loath to walk. He accepted that God’s plan was beyond his comprehension, and the seeds of new hope took root in that knowledge and acceptance.
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him(Lam. 3:22-24).
Thought For TodaySuffering and heartache are not signs of failure in God’s service; failure comes from embracing despair and purposefully distancing ourselves from Him.
Christ Revealed: As the merciful Savior (Lam. 3:22). Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life (Jude 1:21).
Word Studies: 3:5 builded against = besieged; 3:9 inclosed = blocked; 3:14 a derision = a laughingstock; 3:15 wormwood = bitterness; 3:29 putteth his mouth in the dust = speaks humbly; 4:10 sodden = boiled.
Pray For Country: Pollock Printing, Nashville, TN • Government Officials : Rep. Mary Peltola ( AK) • Country : Bangladesh (166,280,712) Southern Asia • Major Languages: Bangla, English • Present religious freedom may become limited • 89.5% Muslim; 9.6% Hindu; 0.9% Other • Prayer Suggestion : Praise the Lord; our God is the Mighty God (Ps. 50:1).
Optional Reading: Revelation 5