Hard Times

The book of Lamentations has always been a difficult book for me to get through.  It’s a very emotional book, full of not only anger and sadness, but also of grief, horror and confusion.  Yet there is hope to be found there as well.  

The belief seems to be that it was written by Jeremiah as he was witnessing his prophecies come true as Jerusalem was falling, due to the people disregarding him and all the warnings he had given them.  

But as I read some of it, I thought about my article from last week about Mrs. Job.  I talked about the difficulties that Job was going through – some REALLY hard times.  So at least some of Lamentations seemed as though it could’ve been written by Job – the difficult, raw emotions could’ve poured from him.

But – for some of that hope that I mentioned in the book, here’s Lamentations 3:19-26 (TLB):  “Oh, remember the bitterness and suffering you have dealt to me! For I can never forget these awful years; always my soul will live in utter shame.  Yet there is one ray of hope: his compassion never ends. It is only the Lord’s mercies that have kept us from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day. My soul claims the Lord as my inheritance; therefore I will hope in him. The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him, to those who seek for him. It is good both to hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

As any of us go through hard times, it’s really easy to start searching for where we can put the blame for our circumstances.  Many people immediately want to pin the blame on someone else – a spouse, a child, a parent, a friend.  Then others always want to blame themselves, believing that they were at fault for the actions of someone else or for personally doing something that caused all of the negative things coming into their life.  

The fact is – maybe someone else did do something that caused our situation through no fault of our own; or, maybe we did ignore the likely consequences of doing something that we knew was wrong.  But regardless of the cause, we have to face our situation head on and plow our way through it the best we can.  

We can navigate those times by remembering that ray of hope, knowing that God’s compassion never ends.  We need to remind ourselves that His faithfulness is great.  Then approach each new day knowing that His loving-kindness is there with us to push ahead.  

We need to wait.  We need to seek.  We need to hope.  Remember that God is with us through the good and easy times; and, He is also with us through the bad and hard times.

It may feel like you are swimming upstream, fighting the rapids all alone and that at any moment you will be pulled under by that current.  But just as Peter called out to Jesus to save him as he tried to walk on the water and began to sink, we too can call out to Jesus and His hand will reach out to us.

Here are some encouraging words to consider when facing hard times:

“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.” Og Mandino

“Hard times are sometimes blessings in disguise. We do have to suffer but in the end it makes us strong, better and wise.”  Anurag Prakash Ray

“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.”  C.S. Lewis 

“And we are also happy with the troubles we have. Why are we happy with troubles? Because we know that these troubles make us more patient. And this patience is proof that we are strong. And this proof gives us hope. “  Romans 5:3-4 (ERV)

“He is near to those who call to him, who call to him with sincerity.  He supplies the needs of those who honor him; he hears their cries and saves them.”  Psalm 145:18-19 (GNT)

Written by Karran Martin – September 22, 2023

[Bold emphasis is mine]