When You See Affliction

I am the man who has seen affliction. (Lamentations 3.1)

Devotional Thought: America watched with shock as cities burned from protests and riots.  The leaders of those cities seemed to have given up hope of restoring peace and order, protecting property and people.  The nation's affliction reached its zenith on January 6, 2021, when the capitol itself was besieged.

Jeremiah watched with horror as the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem.  The walls were destroyed.  The leaders deserted.  Judgment had arrived.  Jeremiah had warned his people over and over.  For his trouble, he had been ridiculed and rejected, throttled and threatened.  But, as we see in Lamentations 3, he held onto hope.

Look into the soul of Jeremiah, and find hope in your affliction:

·       Things are bad...

My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.” (vv. 17-18)

·       But God is good...

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. (vv. 21-26)

·       So, call out to him...

I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit; you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!’  You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!’  You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life. (vv. 55-58)

Prayer: "O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear.  In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy."  Amen. (Habakkuk 3.2)

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 18.13-18

13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire.

14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.

15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

16 He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.

17 He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.

18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support.