Lamentation 3:1-66

Hope is one of the key ingredients in the Christian walk.  It is one of the greatest blessings we have as believers and allows us to face difficult circumstances with confidence.  When we lose hope the results are devastating because it means we have lost sight of the very essence of our relationship with God.  However, hope always involves the future, which means it always looks at future promises and not present realities.  Hope and faith always walk hand in hand because they both look forward to and live in light of that which is not seen and has not been fully realized.  Life on this sin cursed planet will be difficult but we can overcome those times through the hope we have in the Lord Jesus.

THE DESTRUCTION OF HOPE BRINGS DESPAIR: Jeremiah describes his own desperation because all hope has seemingly been destroyed.  He is living under the affliction of God’s wrath.  This has brought blindness to his eyes, bruises to his body and bitterness to his soul.  He sees no possible means of escape as he feels as if he has been abandoned by God.  His vision of God has changed from a Helper to a Hunter.  He compares God to an animal tearing open a carcass or an archer driving arrows into his body.  He has been abandoned by all the people around him who only laugh at his desperate situation.  Jeremiah is sitting in ashes, grinding his teach, without peace, joy or hope.  Sin and its consequences will rob us of our hope and leave us in desperation.  Even though Jeremiah had been faithful to God he still suffered under the consequences of the sins of his people.  We must do all we can to maintain hope in our lives by taking our eyes off of our circumstances and focusing on the promises of God.

THE DESCRIPTION OF HOPE BRINGS DELIGHT: The first step towards restoration of hope is calling out to the Lord and remembering the love of the Lord.  The only source of true hope available to man is through the steadfast love of the Lord and His limitless mercy.  His mercy renews itself with each new day and His faithfulness will never end.  He is the only source of hope and He extends that hope to all who trust in Him.  God is good to those who wait for Him and seek Him in times of despair.  God wants us to learn patience in the midst of suffering and to trustingly wait on Him with perseverance.  When we are afflicted we should not complain but suffer in silence, humble ourselves before the Lord, accept the insults of men with grace and simply hope in the Lord.  This will not be our reality forever and not even for very long when we compare it to the eternity in God’s presence that is our true hope.  God is just in His dealings with men, including us.  He is sovereign over the affairs of this world.  He has determined to punish the sins of men.  In light of this truth we must recognize our own sin and declare the righteousness of God for judging that sin.

THE DEFERMENT OF HOPE BRINGS DISCIPLINE: Jeremiah recognizes the reality of hope but he also comes crashing back to the reality of his current circumstances.  There is hope for the future but it is not yet here.  In the present he is still under the anger of God’s discipline.  God seems distant and he feels as if he is nothing more than trash.  He is under the affliction of his enemies and he is living in nothing but ruins.  All he can do is cry over all that has happened and is happening.  He recognizes that this will be his reality until the Lord looks down with pity upon His children.  All that is left to do in these desperate times is to call out to the Lord for help.  We can rest assured that God knows all that is going on in our lives as well as all the injustices being committed by our enemies.  God knows all of these things and He will repay them.  God is a just judge and we can rest assured that He will judge the evil of this world and He will reward the righteous.  This is a truth that should be the source of our hope.  It may not happen soon, but it will happen so we must learn the discipline of waiting for the promises of the Lord to take place.  In the meantime it is our job to suffer in silence as we wait patiently with hope in the promises of God.