December 3 - Lamentations 3:21-23

Merry Christmas, everyone. This week at Northland Church, we're talking about hope. But if we're honest, sometimes we don't come into the advent season with hope and joy and peace. We come into it with despair and grief. And in times like that, it can feel like God has turned away from us. When the prophet Jeremiah wrote the book of lamentations, he was witnessing the destruction of the city and the people that he loved. In lamentations 3, he gives vivid detail of the pain and the turmoil that he personally has experienced. And yet despite his circumstances, Jeremiah found hope in the character of God. He turned towards God in the midst of his despair. In chapter 3, starting in verse 19. He says, I remember my affliction, and it is bitter beyond words. I remember it well, and my soul is downcast within me. 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. Our gut reaction in times of suffering is to pull away into doubt. But Jeremiah shows us. It is so important to press into God's word and into God's family during times of grief and suffering. We need brothers and sisters to come alongside us and grieve with us, and then gently remind us of the truth of who God is. He is sovereign, he is merciful, and he is faithful. And that is why we have hope, regardless of our circumstances.