Dare to Hope

“Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this.”
Lamentations 3:21 (NLT)

Have you ever cried until the tears would no longer come and uttered words like “Everything I hope for from the Lord is lost?” Then you, me and Jeremiah make three.

Like me you have probably asked questions like: “Why Lord? What am I doing wrong? Why won’t you just fix his problems?”  The prayers would end with “if it is Your will,” hoping that His will was different what  it appeared to be.

Jeremiah, the author of Lamentations, found himself in a hopeless situation as he watched the Temple of the Lord being burned to the ground by the Babylonians. His heart broke.

Jeremiah cried until no more tears would come (Lamentations 2:11, NLT). His heart was broken for Jerusalem and for God’s people, his people. In anguish he lamented the words, “Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost” (Lamentations 3:18, NLT).

Then, out of the midst of his despair, he dared to hope through remembering: (Lamentations 3:21-24)

• His unfailing love for him
• His new mercies meant for him
• His never ending faithfulness toward him
• His inheritance due him

Jeremiah dared to hope regardless of his circumstances. As you read you can hear the expression in Jeremiah’s “voice” change from that of lament to that of optimism. Remembering what God has done and who He is the key transforming our thoughts from despair to expectancy.

Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that the word of God is alive and active. This means when we read it and the Spirit reveals truth we can apply said truth to our life. Let’s take this truth to the bank and start living in expectancy rather than despair. Let’s dare to hope!