You Can Count On the Lord!

When Hugh Latimer was preaching one day in the presence of King Henry VIII, he reports that he said to himself, “Latimer! Latimer! Remember that the king is here; be careful what you say.” Then he said to himself, “Latimer! Latimer! Remember that the King of kings is here; be careful what you do not say.” For such unflinching faithfulness Latimer was eventually burned at the stake. But He feared failing God more than he feared offending men.

The faithful disciple values his soul immeasurably more than he values his body, and he will gladly sacrifice that which is only physical and corruptible for the sake of that which is spiritual and incorruptible.

The book of Lamentations is a series of dirges, or songs of mourning, that were written against the backdrop of the Babylonian invasion and destruction of Jerusalem. In the verses of this book, we can see the awful sufferings endured by the people of that city at the hand of their enemies.

Still, even in the midst of all the pain and the turmoil, God had His man in Jerusalem to record the events and to bring honor to His Name. The writer of the book of Lamentations is believed to be Jeremiah. He was known as the Weeping Prophet. A study of Jeremiah’s life reveals a portrait of unending sadness and deep depression. Allow me to give you some of the background for this precious man of God...

1.  Received an unwanted call to minister (Jeremiah 1:5-6).

2.  Called to a ministry of preaching nothing but judgment (Jeremiah 1:9-10).

3.  He was forbidden to marry so that he might give himself more fully to his ministry of proclaiming the impending judgment of God (Jeremiah 16:1-13). As a result he was very familiar with loneliness.

4.  He was a man of deep sadness and he wept openly about the sins of his people (Jeremiah 9:1).

5.  He endured depression as the result of his message going unheeded for so long. He even came to the point where he tried to get out of the ministry (Jeremiah 20:9). His pain is understandable, because in a ministry that spanned some 50 years, there is no record of even one convert.

6.  He suffered imprisonment by King Zedekiah because the king did not approve of Jeremiah’s preaching  (Jeremiah 32:5). Even while the Babylonians are invading the city in fulfillment of his prophet declarations, Jeremiah is sitting in the dungeon (Jeremiah 32:2).

7.  After Jerusalem falls and many have been killed or taken captive, the prophet does not gloat or take an “I told you so” mentality. Instead, he becomes broken with the remnant and enters into suffering with them (Lamentations 1-5).

After enduring a life like this; after being rejected, hated, mocked, imprisoned, ignored; after seeing his beloved Jerusalem ransacked, desecrated and destroyed; after experiencing the horror of war, the brutality of the enemy and the pangs of hunger, Jeremiah was still able to stand forth amid the rubble of the city and the bodies of the dead and lift his voice in praise to God for His great, unfailing faithfulness to His people.

How was this possible? Despite his trials and his troubles, Jeremiah had gotten a good grasp on the reality of just Who God is! Jeremiah knew that whether things went well, or whether everything fell apart, God would still be God and that God would be eternally faithful to His people (Lamentations 3:21)! Jeremiah was still able to find hope in a hopeless situation because he believed in the faithfulness of His great God.

Just like Jeremiah, we all go through times when life seems to fall apart at the seams. When these times come we also need the blessed assurance that God is faithful! Thankfully the Bible gives overwhelming evidence of the unchanging faithfulness of our great God.

We can be sure that as we face the storms, trials and valleys of life, God will ever prove Himself to be steadfast and faithful to you and me. To put it very simply, you can count on the Lord!

Scripture: Deuteronomy 7:9; 2 Timothy 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Psalm 33:4; 1 Corinthians 1:9

Prayer: Dear Father, thank you for this day. I come to you to ask for wisdom and guidance to help someone I love who is in need. Please help them as well. Let them know you are there with them and wll always be there for them. Amen

May God bless you!

Amaris