I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:19-26 (NIV)
Afflictions have a way of narrowing us do they not? Showing us how very little control we really have – causing us to look out and up and not in. And that is a blessing – a beauty in the ash so to speak. That’s exactly what Jeremiah did in our passage above – He looked up. He remembered the Lord’s faithfulness – bringing it back to his mind and continuing to dwell on it and wait patiently on the Lord. King David did likewise in Psalm 27 when he wrote in verses 13-14: “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Really good advice. It is important where our focus remains.
We can derive much hope from Jeremiah’s lament not merely from God’s promise to deliver us from our afflictions but also what He is faithfully working in us through our afflictions. Remember He is always in the process of conforming us into the image of His Son and He uses all means towards that end. He knows full well we are all prone to wander from Him, prone to a faithless fear and prone to pride that puffs. God is Sovereign over all things and in His faithfulness and goodness He uses all things – even things beyond our ability to endure - so that His power may be made perfect in our weaknesses. Trust Him – not our feelings, rather His Word. He always proves faithful to His promises and is always loving toward all He has made.
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV)