Hope amid the ruins
September 18, 2007
By William E. Richardson
“ ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope in Him!’ ” (Lamentations 3:24, NKJV).
He trudged through the ruins, heartsick on the inside, hot tears streaming on the outside. The protests and screams of those ushered away into captivity had ceased. A haunting quietness hung in the air. “How lonely sits the city that was full of people!” Jeremiah lamented, “How like a widow is she, who was great among the nations!” (Lamentations 1:1).
The prophet’s pain ran deep. He’d tried preparing them. As God’s herald, he blew the trumpet of warning. Following the siege, Jeremiah wandered through Jerusalem, uttering his dirge.
“Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger; for these pine away, stricken for lack of the fruits of the field” (Lamentations 4:9).
God’s people had morally reached their lowest point, constantly ignoring His prophets. To wake them, God sent severe intervention. Invaders overthrew Judah’s capital city, destroying the Temple, taking hundreds captive.
On the surface, Lamentations has a cheerless title and woeful content. But take a closer look.
The centerpiece of this five-chapter book keeps using a word you wouldn’t expect to find. The word is “hope.” In his anguish, the prophet recalled God’s mercies, which arrive new each day (3:20-23).
He then echoed his hope because God provides (3:24). Again, he spoke of patient hope in God’s help (3:26).
In the Book of Jeremiah, preceding Lamentations, God promised His people two things: First, inevitable conquest by Babylonia; second, limited captivity. People would return in 70 years. God kept His word on both counts.
No one reads the Book of Lamentations to waft on the wings of ecstasy. You read Lamentations to get the fullest picture of God.
He’s a jealous God who wants our honest devotion. He’s a just God who disciplines us when necessary. He’s a loving God, not looking for a pound of flesh but for improvement in His followers.
He’s a God of hope. He’s always a God of hope.
If you’re in a spiritually dark period, seek God with a repentant heart. If you’re currently under His hand of correction, patiently draw closer to Him, trusting His timing. If you’re faithfully serving God like Jeremiah, there’s hope, even if part of your life is in ruins.
Let God hear your lament and see your tears. Let Him renew your hope.
William E. Richardson is senior pastor of Afton (Iowa) Assembly of God.
“Leaving God out of the formula for happiness is like drinking saltwater to quench your thirst or borrowing money to spend your way out of debt.”
“The Secret of Happiness,” Charles T. Crabtree
Today’s Pentecostal Evangel, September 16, 2007
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