Lamentations 3:21-26 (NIV) Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 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.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

When you read the first part of the third chapter of Lamentations, you see how the Prophet Jeremiah was feeling about God, and it wasn’t good. He felt as if the Lord had brought disaster on him and was not even listening to his prayers for help. It goes on for a while until verse 21. Then the words, the feelings and the mood changes. It’s almost like someone turned on a switch as he began to speak a lot differently. What caused that change of attitude in Jeremiah? It was simply remembering who his God was.

Life gets very difficult at times and even when what you are going through has everything to do with the condition of the world around you in general, it still can cause anxiety, depression and can cause you to despair. In Jeremiah’s case, he was lamenting the fall of Judah as the people were exiled to Babylon as well as about how he was treated by the people. But he seemed to be blaming God for all of it until he remembered who it was that He served. He began to remember about the amazing love of God and about his mercy and grace in his own life. Upon remembering who God was and is, including His heart of compassion, he turned from bitterness to thankfulness and hope.

That just all goes to show that when we start by looking at our problems and difficulties, we start devolving to complaining and accusing the Lord of things that are nothing like He would ever do. God will never harm us. He may discipline us because He loves us, but He will never hurt us. Everything that He does is for our good. Every time that you look inward or look around you, fear, anxiety and despair start to set in. We have a good example of that in Peter who had the courage to walk on the stormy water with Jesus, but then began to sink when he looked away from Him and set his eyes on the wind and the waves. That’s why the Word of God tells us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). Concentrating inwardly on our own life, our own problems and our own failures leads to depression. There is nothing good to look at inwardly. We were meant to concentrate on God and on others. That’s why Jesus’ main message was to love God and to loves others as yourself. It was always about others. That’s because that is the way to get out of your head, out of your small, imperfect and problematic world and come into God’s world where there is joy in His presence and in serving others.

There is so much hope when you remember who it is that you serve and remember how awesome God is. When you do that, you climb out of your anxiety, depression and despair and are renewed by a fresh, living hope that nothing will be able to extinguish. God is faithful and yes, His mercies never fail! Let that hope lift you like it did Jeremiah so that you can continue your journey with the joy and peace that Jesus has given you.

Pastor Joey Vazquez