Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “A Fresh Encounter”
Our Bible verse for today: “How she sits alone, the city once crowded with people! She who was great among the nations has become like a widow. The princess among the provinces has been put to forced labor.” Lamentations 1:1 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Don’t give-up. The story’s not over and God isn’t done yet.”
Our Bible verse for today is the opening paragraph to the book of Lamentations in the Old Testament. Lamentations was written by the prophet Jeremiah and it’s the story of how the city of Jerusalem was devastated by an invading army. As Jeremiah was writing this he was looking at a city that was in ruins and the population had been taken off into slavery.
Sometimes that scene can seem like a picture out of our own lives. Unemployment, sickness, the death of a loved one, being betrayed by someone we trusted, those are examples of the kinds of things that can cause us to feel as if our world has come crashing down around us.
In this case the people were entirely at fault and God had allowed this tragedy into their lives as a form of punishment. Sometimes that’s true for us too. Sometimes we bring it on ourselves and God allows us to experience the consequences of our own bad choices – but usually not. More often what we’re experiencing is simply something that happens because we live in a broken and bleeding and sin-filled world.
But either way, whether we brought it on ourselves, or it happened as a result of someone else’s bad behavior, or it’s simply life happening, the devastation we’re experiencing at that time is almost never the end of the story. It wasn’t the end of the story for the Jews. The day would come when their suffering would end; they would have a fresh encounter with God and He would deliver them from their suffering. That’s true for you too.
Lamentations is one of the saddest books in the Bible. But even in the middle of such a sad, sad story there are words of hope and promise. In Lamentations 3:22-26 we read:
“Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! I say: The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good to wait quietly for deliverance from the Lord.”
Yes, “It is good to wait quietly for deliverance from the Lord.” No matter how bad it might seem right now, your time of deliverance will come. So don’t give-up. The story isn’t over and God’s not done yet.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 