Here in northeast Ohio, fiery autumn leaves litter the ground, as if the earth exhaled a heavy sigh and released them from their seasonal labor. Soon, every deciduous tree will lift empty limbs toward the sky, awaiting the icy, cold shroud of winter. For months, the darkness of winter will fall early, and most plant life will sleep until spring infuses its awakening rush. Creation obeys the patterns set since the beginning of time and reminds us that no season lasts forever.
According to Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, hope is “A desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable. Hope differs from wish and desire in this, that it implies some expectation of obtaining the good desired, or the possibility of possessing it. Hope therefore always gives pleasure or joy; whereas wish and desire may produce or be accompanied with pain and anxiety.”
God’s creation mirrors the patterns of hope well. Winter will have an end. Spring will awaken life again. We do not just wish or desire it to be so. We know because the patterns of creation have always shown the hope of spring to be true.
This morning my Bible reading intersected with Psalm 42 and Lamentations 3, and I was reminded of the devastating struggles of life when pain feels crushing and God seems silent. In Jeremiah’s case in Lamentations 3, his crisis was precipitated by the disobedience and rebellion of those who would not hear his warnings. This may be the most difficult suffering when you must walk the consequences of others’ sinful decisions. The Psalmist of Psalm 42 captures the emotions of confusion and shame well with his address to his own soul.
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God:
when shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my meat day and night,
while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me:
for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God,
with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Psalm 42:2-5a
Jeremiah’s lamentation described the physical pain his emotional anguish created in Lamentations 3:11-20. He holds nothing back in his vivid description.
He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.
He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.
I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.
He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.
He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.
And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.
And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord:
Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
No one is immune from seasons of suffering, though some slog the depths of suffering more than others for reasons known only to the One who oversees it all. Some suffering may seem to last forever, but no sorrow can be eternal for the believer. Just as creation signals hope by its faithful patterns, the promises of God signal hope by their faithful patterns, as well. Not one promise of God has ever failed, and neither will the promises of things to come. God promises an end to death, pain, sorrow, and tears.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. Revelation 21:3-5
If trials endure through the entirety of a human life, even a hundred-year life equals the tiniest drop in the vast cavern of eternity. The humbling recognition is that it is because of the unfathomable suffering of the God of eternity we have the hope of such an eternity at all. Jesus suffered the worst that sin had to offer so that no one ever has to endure the eternal suffering that sin ushered into the Garden of Eden. (See Genesis 3). If you have not yet called out to this Suffering Savior for relief from sin’s wages, why not today? His gift of forgiveness grants eternal life to everyone who calls upon His name. (Romans 6:23, 10:9-13).
He is despised and rejected of men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
and we hid as it were our faces from him;
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows:
yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him;
and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:3-5
As long as Jesus lives, there is no reason to give into despair. As the well-beloved song poetically captures,
“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, all fear is gone.
Because I know, He holds the future.
And life is worth the living just because He lives.”
(Lyrics written by Gloria Gaither).
The seasons will change. Hope lives, and God will make it all beautiful in His time.
Lamentations 3:21-26
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
Maybe this is not your season now, but it may be at another time, or perhaps you can share this with someone else who is walking through the fire. I pray that it is a help and encouragement. Please let me know if I can pray for you.
Have a blessed weekend, my friends.
Erica B.
His Song in the Night 