Tonight's message comes from Lamentations 3:19-36.
(I recommend reading the Message version, I read the NIV version, but the MSG was better to understand.)
The section title in my bible is "It's A Good Thing to Hope for Help From God". This section proves that it IS a good thing indeed! Verses 30-31 says "The 'worst' is never the worst. Why? Because the Master won't EVER walk out and fail to return."
How many times have you worried about something, been stressed, or felt like nothing was going right? We all go through struggles in life, its just a matter of how much faith and HOPE you have in God to get you through it all. You can't always look to other people to help you get up off the ground and put you back onto your feet. Like it says in verse 31, "the Master won't EVER walk out and fail to return". Looking back a few verses to verse 22 it states that "God's loyal love couldn't have run out, His merciful love couldn't have dried up". How great is it to know that you ALWAYS will have someone (GOD) right there with you through everything?! He will never leave you, will love you no matter what and will continue to forever.
So you may be thinking, so how on earth can I trust God will always be there for me? Well it tells us in verse 25: "God proves to be GOOD to the man who passionately waits, to the women who diligently seeks".
Two key words that need clarification: passionately and diligently. God says to the man to passionately wait. In the dictionary, "passionately" means to be "ruled by intense emotion or strong feelings; expressing, showing, or marked by intense or strong feelings". Be passionate with your faith, your love, your beliefs, and your HOPE, passionately trusting God.
God says to the women to diligently seek. In the dictionary, "diligently" means "constant in effort to accomplish something". Don't stop until you find it, don't stop until you have it, don't stop seeking (looking) for God and what he wants to do. Follow God and you will be able to get out of whatever you're going through. Look to him since he's the only one who will NEVER leave or give up.
There's so much more meaning to this section. I encourage you to read Lamentations 3:19-36 and gain your own understanding. Learn from it.
The verse that stuck out the most to me, and I suggest highlighting/writing it down is verse 30: "Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face. The 'worst' is never the worst." Remember to keep a grip on your hope with God and you'll make it through. He doesn't want us to struggle, He wants us to learn.
