God is Faithful

“Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!
 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
 his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
Lamentations 3:19-26 ESV


If you are more familiar with your Bible then it should seem strange to turn to the book of Lamentations for a word on God’s faithfulness. Jeremiah is referred to often as the weeping prophet, and his ministry to a faithless people did not see the nation turn back to God. Jeremiah watched his people go into the ever exile he had so diligently warned them of, and then wrote the book of Lamentations as he poured out his prayers before the Lord.

Why would we turn here? Here is the truth; it is much easier to remember the faithfulness of God when things are going well by our standards. We still need the reminder to be sure as our hearts must constantly be trained in gratitude and we are prone to forget. When hardship comes however the believer is often not plagued by forgetfulness, but doubt. Pain brings to mind all that we have heard and read but we then doubt God’s goodness. We question Christ’s faithfulness.

The prophet Jeremiah sat utterly broken, with every pattern of his life disrupted and destroyed before his eyes. He expresses his anguish and grief which were very real and very present. Yet there is something remarkable here; “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope…” Jeremiah turned his mind to the Lord in hope. The pain was still present but Jeremiah knew, so was the Lord. The mercy of the Lord continued still and was new each day. God’s goodness had not ceased or taken a day off. God was with Jeremiah even in the heartbreak.

As we approach Easter we also near the suffering, sacrifice, and death of Christ in our remembrance. Jesus stands before us the man of sorrows, well acquainted with our griefs. He is a God not far off but very close to the weary and broken. I pray that in the seasons of difficulty of our lives that we would refuse the offer of doubt. That we would reject the hopelessness which stands ready at the door of our hearts to take up residence. We may find ourselves broken and sorrowful, but never without hope. Oh that we would recall to mind the words of Jeremiah; The steadfast love of the Lord NEVER ceases! What God has promised, Christ will accomplish! You can be sure of that hope!