August 27 - Lamentations 2:1-4:22

Good morning everyone,

In the book of Ecclesiastes we read that for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance, well the people of Israel were not dancing. As a matter of fact, Lamentations is a book of mourning, a funeral dirge so to speak that serves to teach the people that to disobey God is to invite disaster, there is consequence of choice and also, to show that God suffers when His people suffer. 

Lamentations chapter 3 is probably one of my favorite chapters in all of the Bible. Why? It is one of faith, trust and hope. Jeremiah was a man who had seen some pretty tough days in his life. Beginning in verse 1 is an account of his torturous treatment, the mocking and betrayal of his own people and yet … yet, Jeremiah claims, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’” Is that beautiful or what?! God had promised future restoration and Jeremiah knew that God would keep His promise. Deuteronomy 7:9 says “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.” Trusting God in the “little stuff” day by day secures a strong foundation on the Rock for when those raging, often relentless storms of life wear us down and all that’s left is blind faith and trust, we can continue moving forward in God knowing He will keep the promises He has made to us. Make sense?

But, what does it mean to have total faith and trust in God? I use to struggle with how to get there, if you know what I mean. Then I read something that really helped, and obviously it stayed with me. It is that faith is like floating in a deep ocean, if we panic and struggle we will tense up and thrash about and we will eventually sink. However if we would but relax and trust, take slow, controlled breaths, we will float, no matter how deep the water is. Right? It’s not about learning how to float on water but simply trusting its buoyancy. Well, trusting in God’s ability to sustain us works the same way. Whatever griefs we have all we need to do is drop them off at the cross, pray about them, allow faith to help us to relax and let go, to rest in God’s ability, then friends just kick back and know the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.  1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” I say “Let go and let God.” Amen?

Have a great day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …..