The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”
The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.
So it is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the Lord. Lamentations 3:22-26 (NLT)
Jeremiah was prolific. So many times in the book named after him it says “This is what the Lord says” or “The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah.” And the messages weren’t pretty. They were messages of punishment and destruction because the Israelites refused to obey God. They continued to do what they pleased, when they pleased without regard for his wishes.
Jeremiah was punished by the people for his prophecies. He was treated harshly and ostracized by his community. Still he continued to relay what God told him. I am sure a life like this would be very discouraging. He probably felt like he was walking an uphill battle. Over and over again he said the same thing only to be shut down.
And then, Israel was taken into captivity. The horror of every prediction was coming true. And Jeremiah was lamenting about this. In the middle of pouring his heart out, Jeremiah writes today’s Bible verse. He turns from looking at the doom and destruction and focuses on God and who he is. He stops looking at the chaos around him and focuses on the love and patience of his King.
Sometimes the holidays can be super stressful and depressing. So much activity; so many expectations to be met. Or, if your life is not in the place to where you can enjoy these things, it can be very discouraging. Take a step back. Remember who Jesus is and why he came. Remember the gift that we have all received because of that love. I know it may not immediately change our circumstances, but it will remind us what we are supposed to be celebrating. It will remind us where our focus needs to be.