Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today’s message was inspired by Pastor Steven Furtick’s sermon from this past Sunday.

Today scripture, Lamentations 3:18-25 (NIV) shares the prophet Jeremiah’s thought journey…
[18] So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD.” [19] I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. [20] I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. [21] Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: [22] Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. [23] They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. [24] I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” [25] The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;

Consider…
It would not surprise me if many of the marriages I admire had some lonely walks through the wilderness of the valley of shadow of death.

However, unlike David in the 23rd Psalms, there’s wasn’t the confidence that God was with them. Instead I believe they would have felt like David in Psalms 13:1-3 (ERV)…
[1] How long will you forget me, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you refuse to accept me? [2] How long must I wonder if you have forgotten me? How long must I feel this sadness in my heart? How long will my enemy win against me? [3] LORD my God, look at me and give me an answer. Make me feel strong again, or I will die.

No matter how devoted we are to trusting God, difficult times and disappointment can be draining and leave our faith waning.

Thus, I totally understand the prophet Jeremiah’s initial thoughts in today’s text. I mean nothing he lamented was false.

That remy me of the disciples in Mark 4:37-38 (NLT)…
[37] But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. [38] Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”

I imagine some the of couples, just like us, were tempted to ask God if He cares?

Yet, because we don’t want to have our faith questioned by Jesus, we throw out unbelieved cliches like, “don’t tell God how big your mountain is, tell your mountain how big your mountain.”

As wonderful as that sounds, sometimes our hopelessness isn’t an indictment of God’s ability, but an admission that our vision is obscured.

That hit play on Fred Hammond singing…

When it seems like my mountains to high
And im tired of the climb
When it feels like my patience is frustrated with time
I depend on the spirit
To gently remind

When my faith is challenged
And my vision is obscured
When I’m hanging on by a thread
And my footings unsure
I look to the spirit
For one word to help me endure

Like the lyrics suggest, sometimes we’re overwhelmed. Before, you declare your unwavering faith, let me remind you of Jesus’ last words as a human. Matthew 27:46 (NIV) shares…
[46] About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

If Jesus felt forsaken, what makes us think wouldn’t ever feel that way too.

As a matter of fact, Jesus’ words are a direct quote from Psalms 22:1-2 (NLT), which in
entirety says…
[1] My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? [2] Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.

Permit me to be candid, SUFFERING SUCKS!

I think as Christian’s we try to make it nobel to help us endure it, but for many of us, if we’re honest we’re just pretending, because the struggle is real.

The Holy Spirit reiterated that truth by reminding Matthew 26:38-39 (ERV) shares…
[38] Jesus said to Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, “My heart is so heavy with grief, I feel as if I am dying. Wait here and stay awake with me.” [39] Then Jesus went on a little farther away from them. He fell to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, don’t make me drink from this cup. But do what you want, not what I want.”

You see God knew/knows we will struggle in suffering.

That’s why Jesus said in John 16:33 (NIV)…
[33] “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus was saying I know things will seem like too much to bear because He dealt with the same feelings, and overcame the temptation of leaning into debilitating doubts about the presence of His faithful Father.

That brings Hebrews 4:15-16 (NLT) to mind…
[15] This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. [16] So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Pasting those verses hit play on the hymn refrain…

Jesus knows all about our struggles;
He will guide till the day is done.
There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus.
No, not one! No, not one!

God never wanted us to ‘fake it until we make it’. Instead, I believe God wants us to always be Honest, Open and Transparent with Him.

Thus, when Jeremiah said I ‘had hoped’, I believe God was okay with his discouragement and doubt he confessed aloud. The Holy Spirit is emphasizing, Jeremiah’s hopelessness admissions were the honesty, openness and transparency that God desires.

But it occurs to me that God didn’t respond to Jeremiah’s pity party, and similarly He remained silent when Jesus confessed His agony over dying and excruciating criminal’s for the sins of all mankind.

Although that may seem heartless, it’s actually instructional. God’s not going to respond to your pity party.

What does any this have to do with God’s faithfulness. Well, in the case of Jeremiah, he ‘had hoped’ transitioned to ‘have hope’ when he recalled the obvious, expressed by a James Fortune chorus…

But you survived, you survived
All The pains that you went through
But Jehovah brought you through
You survived, you survived it all

And brother Fortune continued…

By the grace of GOD
You made it through
With a strength in GOD
He gave to you
In spite of all
You can smile again
You can hold your head up high

Notice in today’s scripture that after Jeremiah bemoaned everything bad, he recalled how good God had been through it all. You see it’s remembering God’s faithful goodness that overcomes our the bad memories.

That hit play on Kurt Carr singing…

I almost let go.
I felt like I just couldn’t take life anymore.

Pre-Chorus 1:
My problems had me bound,
Depression weighed me down.
But God held me close, so I wouldn’t let go.
God’s mercy kept me, so I wouldn’t let go.

When we realize the fact that we are alive to remember what had happened, we recognize God kept us, and as Tye Tribbett would sing…

If He did it before
He can do it again

Those simple lyrics inspire hope.

As I wrote that, the Holy Spirit directed me to Hebrews 11:1 (NIV), which explains…
[1] Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Then the Holy Spirit connected today’s scripture to that explanation.

Jeremiah was confident in God’s faithfulness, because he realized like James Moore sang…

He was there all the time
He was there all the time
Waiting patiently in light
He was there all the time

When I felt like giving up
He was there all the time
He was there all the time
Waiting patiently in light
The Lord was there, the Lord was there
Jesus was there all the time

You see although the current situation seemed hopeless, the faithfulness of God made Jeremiah hopeful. Indeed although he hadn’t seen God move in his circumstances, he was sure that he would see God’s faithfulness shine through the storm clouds obstructing his view.

This same confidence in God’s faithfulness is what enabled Jesus to endure unfathomable suffering with steadfast hope of God’s promised glory that finish His story…

Let’s see exactly what the writer wrote in Hebrews 12:2-4 (ERV)…
[2] We must never stop looking to Jesus. He is the leader of our faith, and he is the one who makes our faith complete. He suffered death on a cross. But he accepted the shame of the cross as if it were nothing because of the joy he could see waiting for him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God’s throne. [3] Think about Jesus. He patiently endured the angry insults that sinful people were shouting at him. Think about him so that you won’t get discouraged and stop trying. [4] You are struggling against sin, but you have not had to give up your life for the cause.

You see, if those special couples only focused on negative situations and moments in their marriage, I wouldn’t be able to celebrate their anniversaries. That’s why I believe the found peace by keeping their minds, individually and collectively stayed on God.

And I believe they said to God, with the prophet in Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)…
[3] You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

I imagine like Jeremiah, that focus on God and His faithful goodness in the midst of the bad, transitioned them too from moments of ‘had hoped’ to a life of ‘have hope’.

The last thing the Holy Spirit reiterated is the basis of Jeremiah’s hope in God was…
[22] Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. [23] They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Every waking breath should inspire hope in God and His faithfulness.

Finally, the last thing today’s scripture reveals is…
[25] The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;

I know for a fact these special couples are able to celebrate anniversaries because they continue to ‘have hope’ in, and seek the LORD, who is faithful!

I believe when they remember years gone by, they are inspired to what God has ahead for them, because like today’s song says…

I’ve had some good days
I’ve had some hills to climb
I’ve had some weary days
And sleepless nights

But when I look around
And start to think things over
Well all of my good days
Out-weigh my bad days
And I won’t complain

The Holy Spirit showed me God will silently listen us talk to ourselves about the bad things in our lives, because He knows that when recall His faithfulness, we’ll overcome those thoughts by our testimony of what He’s done before, and ‘have hope’ He’ll do it again.

Thus concludes our journey from ‘had hoped’ to ‘have hope’. 🙏🏾

Today’s song is…
I Won’t Complain

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)