The days are getting darker, the temps are chillier, stresses are high, and Christmas is around the corner. It was mentioned a few weeks ago this is one of the toughest times of the year mentally, emotionally, and—let’s be real—physically with all the treats. It isn’t shocking that the Devil, the World, and our Sinful Flesh want to rob us of the joy of the arrival of Jesus.
DFW wants us to feel hopeless and overwhelmed with darkness, yet there into the darkest of dark, shines the light of hope! This week we dig into Lamentations, a book written at what some could say was the darkest of dark days in Israel’s history, and yet there we not only find hope, but find how to ENJOY HOPE amid the hopelessness.
Lamentations 3:19-33, 40-42, 55-58
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.
28 Let him sit alone in silence,
for the Lord has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
and let him be filled with disgrace.
31 For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.
40 Let us examine our ways and test them,
and let us return to the Lord.
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven, and say:
42 “We have sinned and rebelled
and you have not forgiven.
55 I called on your name, Lord,
from the depths of the pit.
56 You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief.”
57 You came near when I called you,
and you said, “Do not fear.”
58 You, Lord, took up my case;
you redeemed my life.