Hope in the Midst of Trouble

 

Rembrandt's "The Prophet Jeremiah" from http://rembrandtmuseum.com/art.shtml

This morning I read from Lamentations, chapter 3.

Yeah, I know. THAT’S the way to start your day, with a reading from Lamentations! Yay.

Or that’s what I was thinking when I saw the assigned reading in my book. Good old prophet Jeremiah, always an upper, right?

But it was actually an encouragement! Here are verses 21 through 26 in the NIV:

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.

This is right in the middle of all the terrible stuff that the book of Lamentations is famous for.

To me, this was an incredible source of hope. In the midst of all the bad things Jeremiah was going through, he was still able to hope in God. He was still assured that salvation was coming from the Lord.

In fact, just before this, in verses 17 through 20, the prophet describes his feelings:

17 I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I say, “My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the LORD.”
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.

I don’t know if I could write better portrayal of depression than this, the “everything good is gone and nothing is ever going to get better” feeling he’s just described here.

But in the middle of this black despair, there is still hope. Now that’s encouragement!