Where is the hope?

Where is the hope?

Our hope is not in those who govern us…
It isn’t in what job we hold, or what country we live in.
It isn’t in the house we live in or if we are our ‘ideal weight’.
Our hope isn’t in what car we drive…

Whatever it is that looks like that ‘greener grass’… that is not our hope.

Our hope is in the power of God working through His people.
Our hope is in remembering the faithfulness of our Lord…
He has been faithful before, He will be faithful again.

I was so encouraged reading through Lamentations 3 today.
Can I share it with you?

If you have ever been in the depths of despair…
looking for hope…
oh, look at Lamentations 3:
verse 1: I am the man who has seen affliction
verse 2: He has made me walk in darkness…
verse 3: Surely His hand is against me all the day…
verse 4: My flesh and my skin waste away… He has broken my bones.
verse 6: In dark places He has made me dwell…
verse 7: my chain is heavy…
verse 8: Even when I cry out, He has shut out my prayer…
verse 9: He has made my paths crooked
verse 14: I have become a laughing stock to all my people…
verse 17: My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness.

Ever feel like that?

Look at verse 18…
“So I say, “My strength has perished, And so has my hope from the Lord.”

Where is the hope?

Keep reading…
verse 19: Remember my affliction.. the wormwood… the bitterness.
verse 20: Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me.
verse 21: THIS I RECALL to my mind, Therefore I have hope.

Where is the hope?

Here is what he recalls to mind…
verse 22: The Lord’s lovingkindness indeed never cease, His compassions never fail,
verse 23: They are new every morning, Great is Your faithfulness.
verse 24: The Lord is my portion… Therefore I have hope in Him.

Where is the hope?

Our hope is in recalling… remembering our God’s faithfulness.
Remembering our story…
and in that story recalling His lovingkindness and His never ending compassion.

Keep reading…
verse 25: The Lord is good to those who wait for Him… to the person who seeks Him.
verse 26: It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the Lord.
{It is GOOD that he waits… silently}
verse 27: It is good for the man that he should bear the yoke in his youth.
verse 28: Let him sit alone and be silent since He (God) has laid it on him.
verse 29: Let him put his mouth in the dust, Perhaps there is hope.
verse 32: For if He causes grief, Then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness!

{Oh, this is such a beautiful chapter… if you have a chance, read the whole thing!}

Do you see it?
Hope is just oozing through in this chapter.
Sure, it talks about incredible despair… waiting in the dark, in silence.

Sounds like ugly to me.
But, do you see the beautiful?

Our hope isn’t in our circumstances.
It isn’t in our feelings of being alone.
Our hope is in REMEMBERING what our God has done in our lives… and in the lives of others.
Our hope is in REMEMBERING who our God is.

Do you see the beauty in sharing our stories of what the Lord has done in our lives? We have to share the stories… our testimony… and recall the beauty of the faithfulness in those stories.

Where is the hope?

That He is faithful. always.
He is compassionate. always.

Feeling hopeless today?
Feeling alone… like you are sitting in the dark?
Remember your story.
Listen to the stories of those around you and recall the faithfulness of the Lord.

He was faithful before, and He will be faithful again.

~~
This post is part of the 31 Day Challenge: My Ugly, His Beautiful. You can follow along here.

Care to join in on the writing challenge? The Nester is putting it on – you can learn more here.