I have been thinking a lot lately how life can change in the blink of an eye. There have been many persons who I have known who have died recently, then on the news we see how many people have been killed by Hamas in Israel and in Gaza as Israel retaliates. Hostages have also been taken and hidden in underground tunnels in Gaza. Plus, there was a recent earthquake in Jamaica in which thankfully no one died, but many people were traumatized and there was some damage. Death, loss of a job, accidents, wars, and natural disasters can change life in just a moment. This may even make us disappointed and angry with God. It is difficult to know what to do in these moments when despair overwhelms us. We understand that God is sovereign, and He can do the impossible, but we wonder why He doesn’t stop the tragedies that send life hurling into what seems like an endless pit of hopelessness and helplessness.
They silenced my life in the pit and threw stones at me. The waters flowed over my head; I said, “I am cut off!” I called on Your name, O Lord, from the lowest pit. Lamentations 3:53-55
Many historians believe that Lamentations was written by the Hebrew prophet, Jeremiah, who literally got thrown into a pit and experienced many hardships as he brought God’s word to the people. He was also called “the weeping prophet” because he lamented over his sufferings in the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations. He warned the people of Judah about rebelling against God, but they did not heed his warnings and ended up in captivity. The people he tried to help, rose up against Him.
O Lord, You have seen how I am wronged; Judge my case. You have seen all their vengeance, all their schemes against me. You have heard their reproach, O Lord, all their schemes against me, the lips of my enemies and their whispering against me all the day. Look at their sitting down and their rising up; I am their taunting song. Lamentations 3:59-63
Jeremiah was in anguish caused by his enemies, who came against him relentlessly. There were times in the midst of his distress that he also felt afflicted because of God’s anger. His life was so desolate, he felt that God was against him as he wrestled with the wretchedness of his life.
I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. He has led me and made me walk in darkness and not in light. Surely He has turned His hand against me time and time again throughout the day. He has aged my flesh and my skin, and broken my bones. He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and woe. He has set me in dark places like the dead of long ago. He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out; He has made my chain heavy. Even when I cry and shout, He shuts out my prayer. He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked. Lamentations 3:1-9
Have you ever felt like Jeremiah? Have you felt that everything in life is going wrong and you are in a deep pit that you cannot get out of and even God Himself, the Way maker, the Miracle Worker, the One who does the impossible has turned away or maybe even is the One causing your grief? This is not a good place to be in. But what is amazing is in the midst of all his pain is how Jeremiah seems to start having a different view of God.
You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity. And I said, “My strength and my hope have perished from the Lord.” Remember my affliction and roaming, the wormwood and the gall. My soul still remembers and sinks within me. This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:17-26
Jeremiah seemed to have a renewal of the mind and a fresh new perspective in the middle of his anguish. He felt the Lord had removed peace from him, and his hope and strength had died. But suddenly, He remembered the goodness of God and he started to have hope. He knew he served a Lord whose compassion never fails, and His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness!!! He recalled that the Lord is good to those who wait on Him and seek Him. Somehow during his depression and downheartedness, he found hope in the Lord and knew without a doubt that if he waited on the Lord then he would have salvation.
When life changes in the blink of an eye and we have sunk to the depths of despair, let us look up and recall the goodness of the Lord in the past and let us put our hope in Him knowing that He will save us from our troubles because His mercy and compassion never fail us and great is His faithfulness!!!
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