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

Today let’s mine for re-centering wisdom nuggets from a familiar passage of scripture.

Today’s scripture, Lamentations 3:18-24 (NLT), testifies…
[18] I cry out, “My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from the LORD is lost!” [19] The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. [20] I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. [21] Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: [22] The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. [23] Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. [24] I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”

Consider…
I hear the hymn sweetly testifying…

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be

Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

These beautiful lyrics reflect our gratitude, but they can also be a good re-centering melody when we need a change from a negative attitude.

When I think of re-centering, I think of adjusting lost focus, which suggests a synonym is refocusing.

Oxford Languages defines the verb refocus as…

• adjust the focus of (a lens or one’s eyes).
• focus (attention or resources) on something new or different.

I like that, because refocusing is an intentional action of changing what/who…

• we see
• pay attention to
• devote our resources (energy, time, thoughts, etc.) to

This is what today’s passage of scripture illustrates…

Verses 18 – 20 reflect familiar despondent attitudes that swirl in our minds from time to time…

• My splendor is gone!
• Everything I had hoped for is lost
• thoughts of suffering and abandonment

And when times are dire, here’s where most of linger…

• I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.

Have you ever noticed we play our miserable thoughts on a loop. We repeat our defeat over and over. And As we do, we create a spiderweb of despair that catches all the negativity from everywhere.

Pastor Steven Furtick preached from this passage in his ‘I thought’ series. Praise God he blessed my soul by pointing out that the prophet Jeremiah shifted from ‘had hoped’, which looped around everything wrong, to ‘have hope’ when remembering Who makes everything right. And the complete thought transformation to ‘will hope’ as I focus on the LORD’s character and compassions for me.

Pastor Furtick’s message helped me see the refocusing shift centered on hope…

• Had hoped, for I don’t see
• Have hope, for Who I remember seeing
• Will hope, for I know He has for me

As I reread that refocusing exercise, the Holy Spirit added a spelling lesson.

Oxford Languages defines despond as…

• become dejected and lose confidence.
• a state of unhappiness and low spirits.

Notice we become sad or reside in a place of sadness. That tells me despondency is a choice.

However, Oxford Languages defines respond as, say something in reply.

The Holy Spirit then said change your reaction to circumstances and situations from becoming despondent to responding with God’s word. For example, Psalms 42:11 (ERV) encourages…
[11] Why am I so sad? Why am I so upset? I tell myself, “Wait for God’s help! You will again be able to praise him, your God, the one who will save you.”

More of God’s word says, in Philippians 4:6-9 (NLT)…
[6] Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. [7] Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. [8] And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. [9] Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Notice, peace replaces anxiety when we focus on God and what He’s already done.

A couple of subtle and unspoken actions are required to respond rather than despond to difficult seasons and situations…

• Pay attention to what God has already positively done, for you or others. If you struggle to see examples, examine His word.

For example, John 9:25 (ERV) shares…[25] The man answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. But I do know this: I was blind, and now I can see.”

And John 4:28-29 (ERV) shares…
[28] Then the woman left her water jar and went back to town. She told the people there, [29] “A man told me everything I have ever done. Come see him. Maybe he is the Messiah.”

Or John 6:10-13 (ERV) testifies…
[10] Jesus said, “Tell everyone to sit down.” This was a place with a lot of grass, and about 5000 men sat down there. [11] Jesus took the loaves of bread and gave thanks for them. Then he gave them to the people who were waiting to eat. He did the same with the fish. He gave them as much as they wanted. [12] They all had plenty to eat. When they finished, Jesus said to his followers, “Gather the pieces of fish and bread that were not eaten. Don’t waste anything.” [13] So they gathered up the pieces that were left. The people had started eating with only five loaves of barley bread. But the followers filled twelve large baskets with the pieces of food that were left.

You see the Bible is replete with the goodness of God so that we can know and recall to our minds and have hope, in hopeless situations.

I just remembered, my sister-in-Christ Mary’s word for the year is hope. The Holy Spirit is sharing that we should refocus from hoping for blessings to hoping in the Blesser.

The Holy Spirit used Romans 1:25 (ERV) for emphasis…
[25] They traded the truth of God for a lie. They bowed down and worshiped the things God made instead of worshiping the God who made those things. He is the one who should be praised forever. Amen.

God says when we refocus on the Provider rather than the provision, we will see things with a proper vision.

So today, let’s practice refocusing on ‘hoping in God’ rather than focusing on belieng disappointed on what ‘hoped He would do’. Especially because often our disappointed hope is really just hope deferred. Let me remind you of Exhibit L, for Lazarus. John 11:21-25 (ERV) testifies…
[21] Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [22] But I know that even now God will give you anything you ask.” [23] Jesus said, “Your brother will rise and be alive again.” [24] Martha answered, “I know that he will rise to live again at the time of the resurrection on the last day.” [25] Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection. I am life. Everyone who believes in me will have life, even if they die.

Do you see it, Martha was despondent about Jesus not healing her brother, but she didn’t realize Jesus wasn’t focused on fixing what was broken, He was focused on giving Lazarus life anew.

What a great illustration that we aren’t meant to see what God hasn’t shown. He will show us His brand new mercies when He’s ready.

• the second and final hidden gem is trust who God is, regardless of what He does or doesn’t do.

Like the Hebrew boys, we should respond to despondent situations with…

Daniel 3:17 (ERV)…
[17] If you throw us into the hot furnace, the God we serve can save us. And if he wants to, he can save us from your power.

Knowing God can, reminds us everything is in His hand and part of His plan. That’s important, because Romans 8:28 (ERV) encourages…
[28] We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him. These are the people God chose, because that was his plan.

You see, God wants us to remember we’re in His plan, what happens around us is just part of His perfecting process.

That’s why Romans 5:3-5 (NLT) tells us…
[3] We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. [4] And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. [5] And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

So, let’s always respond, rather than despond, to disappointment by remembering…

• Who God is
• What He has done
• What He will do
• Because we’re in His plan

Today’s song is…
My Hope Is In You

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)