I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there’s one other thing I remember,
and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:
God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
He’s all I’ve got left.
God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
to the woman who diligently seeks.
It’s a good thing to quietly hope,
quietly hope for help from God. Lamentations 3:19-27 MSG
So many times we see Lamentations 3:22-23 His mercies are new every morning, great is His faihtfulness. Those verses are always so encouraging one would think they were written by someone who’s on the top of the mountain. But just reading the three previous verses we get a different perspective.
Jeremiah, who’s also known as the “Weeping Prophet” is literally lamenting about his trouble, lonely and miserable filled past that seems to bleed into his present. How many of us can identify with him? The enemy so loves to keep reminding us of our past failures and troubles. He delights in talking us into becoming victims to his cruel and destructive plans, thinking there is no way out. It’s so easy to fall into only seeing the negative side.
But the answer to nullify the negative is to begin to think about God and His love for us. Look what Jeremiah says, that thinking about the goodness of God gives him hope, even in the worst of circumstances. I love when it when he tells us, he says over and over about love, mercy and faithfulness. Who’s he saying it to? Himself, he’s reminding himself and it is churning up springs of hope that he saw before. Jeremiah reminds us that along with the bad, hurtful memories, there are also the good.
And how does that hope come? Quietly, while passionately waiting and diligently seeking Him, hoping and expecting His help to come. If you’re in a place where the enemy keeps wanting to remind you of your past and that there is no way out, then it’s time to remind him of his future, he has none! Then keep declaring the love, mercies and faithfulness of the Lord until your hope becomes sight.
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