Struggling to Follow

READ: PSALMS 39:7; 119:49; LAMENTATIONS 3:13-26

In the Bible, we see over and over again how the Israelites (God’s people) turned away from God, abandoning His good ways and embracing sin. But God still had a great love for His people, even though they sinned and no longer followed His commands. He often sent prophets, people He spoke through supernaturally to remind the Israelites of His love and His good ways. One of those prophets was Jeremiah, who spoke God’s instructions to the people.

Yet Jeremiah grew disheartened and full of despair because of the people’s disobedience. He lost hope. His strength grew weak. Overcome by all the sin and wrong, sorrow filled his heart.

But in this moment, he remembered God’s unshakeable faithfulness. We see this in Jeremiah’s writings in Lamentations 3. Jeremiah remembered God’s forgiveness and great love. He says in verses 22-23, “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.” When Jeremiah was surrounded by faithless people, he found hope in God’s faithfulness. It gave him strength to continue following God, and to call the rest of God’s people to do the same.

When we are overwhelmed by the sin and brokenness in the world around us and in our hearts, we can remember that God is still there. He has not given up on us. Like Jeremiah, we can tell others about God’s love, forgiveness, and His good ways. We can rest in Jesus, the just King Jeremiah foretold in his writings. Because of Jesus’s death and resurrection, we can know that He will someday return to bring about wholeness. And we can share this hope with others.

God will be with us no matter how difficult things get. No matter what others do, we can lean on our loving God and follow His good ways. And, like Jeremiah, we can pray fervently that everyone will see God’s goodness and put their trust in Him. • Anna Gregory

• Have you ever felt like Jeremiah? We all need lots of reminders of God’s faithfulness. Those reminders could come in the form of Bible verses or Bible stories, or from people around you, or memories of times you’ve seen God’s faithfulness in your own life or in the lives of others. Or it could be something else, like a song or something in nature. Consider making a list of things that remind you of God’s faithfulness, then take some time to thank Him for these things.

• When you see someone you love walking away from God’s good ways, how could you show them God’s love?

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him. Lamentations 3:25 (NIV)