Fertility issues
Job loss
Uprooting and moving
Bankruptcy
At some point during each of these experiences, I felt hopeless. I can remember where I was and what I was doing when a loved one said, “Cheli, it is ‘always darkest before the dawn.’” You know, I have found that statement to be true. Each difficult circumstance gave me new opportunities to see God work in the darkest moments of my life and the dawn of HOPE.
The Dark
As I searched the scripture about hope, I came to a favorite passage in Lamentations 3. Here, the Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah, recounts his personal suffering and that of the kingdom of Judah while God enacted His justice on His people for their sin. It was a dark time for Jeremiah.
I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
–Lamentations 3:19-20, NIV
Throughout our lives, even when walking with God like Jeremiah, we will experience hardship. Life gets hard. Sometimes the darkness threatens to overtake us. Jeremiah shares his suffering, but he does not wallow in it. He sees the dawn approaching.
The Dawn
Jeremiah has spent several verses detailing his despair, and then we come to his declaration of hope.
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.
–Lamentations 3:21-23, NIV
In his darkest hour, Jeremiah remembers God’s enduring presence, unfailing love, and abiding faithfulness. We can look to the future with confident expectation that these gifts of God are always available. Beyond the horizon, hope dawns.
Turning Point
In the middle of the difficult circumstances in my life, I reached a point where I surrendered it all to God. In my surrender, the light of HOPE broke through. Holding tight to Jesus because life depended on it, I had fresh understanding that in Christ my circumstances could not consume me, that God never stops loving me, and that I can trust Him with everything.
Jesus, thank you for your enduring presence, overwhelming love, and new mercies that greet me with each new day. I trust in You. You are my HOPE.
[…] a beautiful depiction of hope bursting through despair, Cheli said, “in his darkest hour, Jeremiah remembers God’s enduring presence, unfailing love, and […]