Hope over Hardship

If I may, I can summarize Jeremiah and Lamentations into a sentence: they talk about the cause and effect of the fall of Jerusalem and all of the Israelites for that matter. The books are filled with anxiety, fear and worry. Sounds depressing, doesn’t it? Yet, in the midst of such, God is still glorious.

In Chapter 3 of Lamentations, the author writes about himself and his own hardships. Clearly his years haven’t been very good ones, yet in verses 19-27, he speaks the amazing truth.

¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.

²⁰ I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.

²¹ Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

²⁴ I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."

²⁵ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

²⁶ it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

²⁷ It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.

This is how I read the author’s words:

So many things have happened to me – I’ve experienced so much hardship; so much pain and suffering. I live my life aimlessly, feeling empty, feeling lonely. No matter how I run or where I go, I find myself travelling in a circle, always coming back to the same torment. This is what I remember, this is what I live in, and it makes me depressed, distressed and drained. I could easily say right now, that I’m done; finished.

But I know something that keeps me going, that is hope in my God. I know my God’s abounding and unconditional love; I know His ever-lasting compassion and I know His never-failing faithfulness.

I need to hope in my God, to trust Him and seek Him. For He works for the good of those who love Him. I will wait for the salvation of my Lord and I will persevere through this time of trial so that I may triumph through God and with God. I need only to remind myself daily that the Lord is my portion, my provider, my deliverer and my banner; therefore I will wait for Him.

The Lord is my God

I realize that previously I wrote about Romans and I’ve suddenly switched to Jeremiah. It may seem odd but God has been revealing much through Jeremiah and I’d like to use it to bless others. This post is a follow up of Jeremiah 29 I wrote about yesterday.

Recently during a service, while we were talking about good times, bad times; peace and hardship; joy and sorrow, we were encouraged to always reflect everything back to God. Everyone runs the risk of walking away from God; no one is invulnerable to losing the faith somewhere along the path of life. It’s hard truth but it’s truth all the same. But that is why we need to always remember who we are and who the Lord is in our lives. What the Lord revealed to me that night was simple but impactful:

The Lord is my God.

In Jeremiah 30 v10-11, God says:

I will surely save you out of a distant place,
your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
and no one will make him afraid. I am with you and will save you.

And in v22,

So you will be my people,
and I will be your God.

When I read this, I remembered what God had reminded me, that He is my God. And through anything, He remains faithful and His love is ever-lasting.

Don’t keep in question why hardships still happen to us though God promises peace and security in v10. Further down v11, He also mentions discipline for us.

Hebrews 12 speaks of how hardship is like discipline and discipline isn’t pleasant but it trains us toward peace and righteousness!

When we endure hardship, I am confident that God does not allow us to endure more than we can bear, so that we may persevere and become even closer to Him. Ultimately, whether through promises or peace or easy or hard times, the Lord is still our God.

If we’re walking a straight and smooth path, the Lord is the One who kicks aside stones that may stumble us. If we’ve fallen into a deep pit, the Lord is the One with strong enough arms to lift us out.

Exile and Restoration

God revealed something I wasn’t exactly looking for this morning, but I’m glad He did because I feel it is such an encouraging word for anyone.

During the time of Jeremiah the prophet, Jerusalem was besieged by the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar and a number of Judeans were exiled to Babylon.

As I read Jeremiah 29, I felt that the Judeans were in exile in more than 1 way. They were:

1. Distant from God,

2. Distant from home,

3. Distant from peace.

We can imagine while they were in Babylon, they probably felt anguish, worry, confusion, fear, uncertainty and/or sorrow.

Perhaps, in the same way, we may be going through trials where we’ve distanced ourselves from God, people we love and who love us and from peace of heart and mind. Perhaps we may feel like the Judeans in exile; one or a whole mess of their emotions.

Despite the fact that the Judeans had forsaken God, He knew His promise to His chosen and remained true to it.

Likewise, God chose every one of us who know Him, or at least, knew Him at a time. And for those He chose, He’s made special purposes and promises. For the Lord says:

“For I know the plans I have for you; plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you and will bring you back from captivity.”

Rest assured, God knows and God loves us. Whether we are going through a challenging time or not, know that God has better things in store for us. He is forever faithful and standing by our side, so that the moment we call upon Him, we will find Him and He will bring us close to Him.

Cookie

If our life is a cookie, the crumbs are the pain and regret we leave behind because Jesus Christ has made us a whole cookie again