Hope!

Lamentations 3:19-33 -
"19I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed.
20I remember it all--oh, how well I remember--
the feeling of hitting the bottom.
21But there's one other thing I remember,
and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:
22GOD's loyal love couldn't have run out,
his merciful love couldn't have dried up.
23They're created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
24I'm sticking with GOD (I say it over and over).
He's all I've got left.
25GOD proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
to the woman who diligently seeks.
26It's a good thing to quietly hope,
quietly hope for help from GOD.
27It's a good thing when you're young
to stick it out through the hard times.
28When life is heavy and hard to take,
go off by yourself. Enter the silence.
29Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions:
Wait for hope to appear.
30Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face.
The "worst" is never the worst.
31Why? Because the Master won't ever
walk out and fail to return.
32If he works severely, he also works tenderly.
His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.
33He takes no pleasure in making life hard,
in throwing roadblocks in the way..."

Jeremiah writes about Jerusalem's fall and distruction. He tells of the desolation, and the abominations that happened; death, invasions, cannibalism... And yet, in these verses, he still expresses his hope in God.

He witnessed terrible things that most of us can't even fathom. But he never lost his faith in God.

Think of all the things we go through that "challenge" our faith in God. Compare them to what Jeremiah had to deal with. Our problems seem pretty small now, don't they?

Yet why do we let our problems and our issues weaken our faith?

Hmm....