Have you ever found yourself in a life shattering pivotal moment where you feel you are about to lose your footing amidst some unforeseen chaos, loss or sadness brought into your life unexpectedly? Well sure you have, we all experience those times when our circumstances cause us to lose our spiritual footing in the midst of that chaos. There are a couple of verses in the book of Lamentations that reminds me that while my circumstance may be causing me to feel disconnected in some way to the source of my real joy momentarily, that disconnection will only last until I remember something that God’s Word may say about it, and then I am automatically reconnect to the assurance that all things work together for the good to those that love the Lord. Lamentations 3:31-32 says, “For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.” In the book of Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah after he witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the people of Israel being taken into slavery by the Babylonians, became brutally honest as he stated his complaints to God over the events that he saw taking place around him. He basically lamented to God the he did like anything that wass going on in his life at that time. He didn’t like what he saw happening in the land that he loved, or how things were effecting their economy and especially their national security. He lamented that he did not like seeing people hungry and out of work nor did he not like seeing the immorality, injustice and crime that was taking place all around him. But the thing he really did not like was the fact that God’s people was being taken away into slavery to serve the ungodly Babylonians.
However, in the middle of all his writings in this wonderful book of complaints, God shows us through the life of Jeremiah’s experiences, how to deal with our feelings when the wheels come off and our own world begins to crumble. For the people of Israel, it was their own personal sins that brought on their calamity. Lamentations serves to remind all God’s people, that though sin is very attractive and exciting for a season and while it is very appealing to eat, drink and be merry, that attitude and practice inevitably brings with it a heavy load of misery, grief, pain and sorrow in the end. God is only faithful to His Covenant that He has established with His people. He is not a god that can be bargained with whenever sin is involved. Though we experience many oppressions and miseries which will come into our lives and our nations when we break that covenant, we should never forget, that God’s chastisement always brings good to the people of God. Sometimes our sadness comes about simply because something is happening in our lives that we are unhappy about. Maybe we have lost a loved one and now feel the sadness of that loneliness and find ourselves questing God. Maybe our sadness comes from being disappointed in someone. Whatever the cause; in long term sadness and disappointments the source is the same. Our lack of trust has been violated by our current situation and we have chosen to lament over a thing longer than we should have. We must move away from those feelings and move towards replacing them with trust and hope in what God is able to do in that situation and not what our eyes see taking place. For God’s children are to walk by faith and not by sight and anytime we choose to let our eyes lead us, we fracture our trust in God and we become unstable. Never be tempted to blame others so that you might feel better and don’t do things to distract you from the problem, because distraction never solves the problem.
Remember that all things will work together for those who love the Lord. You must make your mind up to trust in God in that situation and stay away from focusing on anything other than the fact that God is busy working things out for everyone and everything involved. Busy yourself and dig deeper in finding the hidden opportunity disguised in your setback or ongoing problem. While you may not have control over your problems, you most certainly have control over how you feel and respond to them. For as a child of God you have inside you the strength and confidence that while you may not be able to solve life’s problems, you can rise above them; and when you do, it does not matter any longer that things are falling apart all around you. Your hope is in the One that can sustain you through anything that you will ever go through. God has not cast you off sweet friend, so remember this, never let your situation dictate your joy!
Loving on you today,
Bren
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