Tuesday 15 Apr 2008

Tuesday Reading: Lamentations 3:1-26
 
Key Verse: Lamentations 3:26
26  It is good that one should hope for the salvation of The LORD, even in silence.
 
Devotion:
Oh how we can get depressed and revel in our depressions. How we can get stuck in and really feel sorry for ourselves! And boy do we enjoy it sometimes… I am sure we have all been there at some stage, wondering just how bad things can get and then complaining evermore when they do seem bad. But notice the first three words… “I the man”.
 
All our worries and all our ailments are brought on our human selves. It is the human part that we complain about, the human part that we feel sorry for, the human part which feels like it is going to fall apart at any moment… Our human parts are feeble! The temptations are giving into by our human bodies. But what of us? What of the real you and me?
 
No matter how bad things may seem to get it is through God’s mercy that we know that they are not any worse than they are. No matter what we think of the things falling apart around us, we know that God’s compassions will never fail. No matter how physical our lives may get, God’s compassion will always be there; His mercies will never fail. No matter how things break down and how rotten things may get, God will always be there as He has done before time began!
 
It is our duty to wait patiently on God for His mercy and compassion. It is our hope that He will deliver us from our ailments. It is our knowledge that He is in control no matter how much we get out of control. Our afflictions will, and do work for the good of God. We find strength in coming through our afflictions. We find that even when we seem to break down physically, God will and is always there giving us the strength and hope that we need. He humbles us so that we can know He is real. He allows things through our lives to prepare us in some way for what lies ahead.
 
If tribulation works patience, that patience works experience and through that experience a hope that makes us not ashamed. God gets the glory!
 
Points to Ponder:
How much have you been through?
 
How much has God strengthened you?