Thursday Reading: Lamentations 3:21-27
Key Verse: Lamentations 3:
25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
Devotion:
It is refreshing to see hope in a book such as Lamentations where the prophet is lamenting of his life’s woes. In a book where there seem to be so many sad or discouraging texts this is written to remind us that there is always hope if we place that hope in God. There were so many things written down where God’s children were shown evil and seemingly not defended when they turned their backs on God that it seems like we should all automatically believe in Him for fear of what would happen to us should we not believe. And yet we are still ignoring God’s Word in this day and age.
The only reason for hope is that God is merciful and continues to show His grace and mercy to all that seek Him. God’s compassion continues for us no matter what we do. He allowed Jesus to go to the cross even though He did not deserve it. He gave His Son for us so that we will have yet another chance to live forever – He gave us hope! We can see the wasteland that surrounds Israel and be reminded of the power of God to lay waste to anything that man can build up simply because he was warned against going against God but did not listen. But there remains hope as we see Israel flourishing today. We have been shown hope time and time again, but what do we do?
Time and time again, man has faced afflictions to encourage him to go in the right direction. Time and time again, man has turned his back on God thinking that He will not help because He is allowing man to be afflicted. But God also requires patience... When prophets asked things of God, they waited patiently for the answer and God gave it to them after searching hearts. God is not going to answer prayers when we ask them without actually meaning it because He does search our hearts. God wants us to learn His Word from our early lives so that we will remember it and be encouraged by it every day. He wants us to be patient and above all, never to give up hope because He is Just and will deliver us!
Points to Ponder:
How easily do you give up when things do not go your way?
Are you still hoping in God?
