What to remember when life seems hardest and the days are darkest
By Dean Collins
Sometimes you find hope in the strangest places, moments, transactions, and people. Life is filled with these dramatic exchanges, but when you are in them, you often can’t really comprehend what is happening. And yet it’s in those moments that we must apply our faith.
This is nothing particularly new. It’s as old as time. We can fight against it or train ourselves to look for the cracks in the wall of despair and discover God’s goodness and grace. Right when the dark is darkest you may find a flicker of hope.
Some people talk about the good old days when people didn’t lock the doors of their house and left the keys in the car. Everyone got along with their neighbors and it was rare for someone to miss going to church on Sunday. Then, they say, things got bad.
Maybe the times have changed, but I also think our memory isn’t what it used to be. I’ve lived through a few decades and I can’t name one where there weren’t significant challenges with the global economy, racial tensions, greed, marital problems, seemingly untreatable disease, and political wars within countries and between them as well.
Eventually, hard times come and sometimes they come with a vengeance, and you wonder whether there’s a path forward. As we get older we worry less about our path forward. Our concern is for our children and grandchildren.
Sometimes suddenly takes a while
Words from the weeping prophet might help us remember that even when you are in between a rock and a hard place, things that seem impossible are suddenly possible. But sometimes suddenly takes a while.
Jeremiah had called God’s people to repentance as had prophets before him. It appears that God’s children have always been as stubborn, short-sighted, and fickle as we can sometimes be. But our Creator and Heavenly Father who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow continues his great redemption story. If we are willing to trust him, we can find hope for the future.
Jeremiah 32 is a great example of God’s extraordinary provision, even though his children would have to trust him and walk through many changes before children and grandchildren would see better days. Even as the king of Babylon had surrounded Jerusalem with a wrecking crew, God told Jeremiah to go and buy some family property for the next generation. He was told to do it publicly and then to bury the deed to the property so that decades later it could be retrieved and the family could resume living in Jerusalem.
Nothing is too hard for God
Here is Jeremiah’s declaration after doing exactly what he was told to do. “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.”
The walls of Jerusalem were wrecked, and those who followed God’s instructions were exiled. That doesn’t sound attractive or comfortable. But we must remember that following God’s plan then or now was never promised to be comfortable. Yet our loving and living God tells us he will provide, and the future, our future and that of all who trust him, is secure. It will also be filled with abundance.
The exiles did return. Jerusalem did come back to life. The cycle of disobedience and repentance would come again, leading to the appearance of Jesus who would fulfill all prophecy with his death, burial, and resurrection.
By your endurance you will gain your lives
In Luke 21 we hear Jesus describing another difficult season for his followers. Jesus was pretty clear about what would happen to him and what the world could expect until he comes back from the Father’s side in his final act of transformation of all things.
One line jumped at me this morning. Jeremiah didn’t use it, but it was implied. Jesus did say these words, and we need to remember them especially on days when things look particularly dark and we are not sure of the outcomes. Here’s what Jesus said: “By your endurance you will gain your lives.”
It’s not a line that eliminates faith, but it does remind us that faith is more than words. The application of our faith gives us staying power and will result in resurrection power for us personally and for all who call upon Jesus for salvation.
No matter what situation you face, know that God has provided a way forward. Jeremiah had it right. Nothing is impossible for God.
Your time with God’s Word
Jeremiah 32:2, 4, 7, 9-18, 20-25, 27, 37-40, 42-44; Luke 21:19 ESV
Photo by Kyle Cleveland on Unsplash
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