Lamentations 3:17-26
And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD: Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

Jeremiah didn’t have an easy life. He was called by God and sent to the people with the unpopular message of God’s coming judgment for their continued sin and disobedience. He faced their persecution and attacks. He experienced the siege of the Chaldeans alongside them. He was mocked, imprisoned, and disregarded, and many even wanted him dead. And surely his heart was grieved by the sin and stubbornness of the people around him.

Jeremiah’s grief and sorrow is understandable. He experienced true misery and suffered much. But even though the days seemed dark and his circumstances hopeless, he did have hope in God. As he thought upon the Lord and His absolute goodness, His great mercy, and His unending grace, Jeremiah was encouraged and strengthened. He may not have had much in this world, but he had his God, and that was enough to carry him through. It was these simple yet powerful truths about God that enabled Jeremiah to endure his affliction.

Is God your source of hope? Life isn’t always easy. Trials of varying types and degrees come into our lives, and at times it can seem as if all hope is lost. But God does not fail. God is faithful and true. He is merciful and full of compassion, and He is always, always good. We can depend on Him. We can trust Him. And we can be strengthened and encouraged and filled with renewed hope when we remember to look up and look to Him.