Where is God in the midst of our crisis?
Lamentations 3:21-23
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Throughout Biblical history, a crisis of faith has been a common reality for the people of God. A crisis of faith emerges when we seemingly cannot reconcile our present circumstance with what we know to be true about God.
Some of the best of God’s people found themselves at times in a crisis of faith. Consider Moses. In Numbers 11:14-15, Moses expressed to God, “this is too much for me.” Also, consider Elijah. In I Kings 19:3-4, Elijah was fearful of Jezebel, and said to God, “I have had enough, let me die.” Or, consider Job. The devoted and dedicated Job once questioned why he had even been born (Job 3:11). Jeremiah also bemoaned the day he was born as he expressed his disappointment in God not doing as Jeremiah had hoped (Jeremiah 20:14). These individuals had a crisis of faith, but nonetheless did not abandon their faith.
In the midst of a crisis of faith, how can you continue strong without abandoning your faith?
From the prophet Jeremiah’s message, there are three irrefutable truths that will help us to hold tight to our faith in the midst of a crisis of faith (Lamentations 3:21-23). (These three truths will continue for the next three days.)
First, there is and has always been sufficient cause for trusting God in the midst of a crisis (21). Jeremiah proclaimed, “yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.” Jeremiah had known the bitter sorrow of things not turning out as he thought God would author. God told Jeremiah what to say, and then it seemed for a season that those words were not fulfilled. Jeremiah suffered in his obedience by being placed in the king’s dungeon, and in stocks. (Lamentations 3:6 describes a darkness that in the Hebrew Scriptures can indicate affliction and misery – as opposed to light which can indicate happiness or comfort.) But, in verse 21, Jeremiah returned to the object of his hope over against the desperation of his circumstances. He had previously said, “I have lost all hope” (verse 18). This offers us the transparency of a person of faith being knocked down by the extreme sorrow of his present circumstance. Yet, in the depth of his despair he had something to which he would return – there was a truth to which He could cling. In verse 21, his statement “but this I call to mind” actually renders a message of returning to something he had previously known and experienced. There always exists sufficient ground for trusting God in a crisis. Jeremiah knew God had been faithful. Deuteronomy 7:9 proclaims this truth: “God is a faithful God who keeps His covenant…to a thousand generations.” If you are in a crisis of faith, history is on your side. For ages, God’s people have reached out in faith in the midst of extreme crisis and God has somehow brought them through with greater strength and faith. 2 Timothy 2:13 reminds us that “God remains faithful – even when we are not, for He cannot deny Himself.” If you are in a crisis of faith, not only do you have history on your side, you have God’s nature (His track record with His people) on your side. The prophet was not working from a blank slate. He knew that at times we must trust God’s heart when we cannot see the work of His hands. And so, Jeremiah returned to these thoughts. In fading belief, the prophet actually returned his mind to hope in God. The term for mind (in the original language of the Old Testament) is a metonymy for the thoughts of the minds – the true inner self. Hope is always grafted as a work of God into your heart (your inner man) and is never dependent upon the outer circumstances. There is always more than sufficient cause for trusting God in the midst of a crisis.
This gives birth to hope in our hearts. In his book Sacred Fire, Ronald Rohlieser reminds us that inside of every crisis is “an invitation to move from being good people to being great people, as the crisis moves us closer to seeing God from a place we have never seen Him before.” Billy Graham once commented, “because of the message of the cross of Jesus, each crisis is an opportunity.”
So today, if your present circumstance seems irreconcilable with God’s faithfulness to you, trust Him anyway. There is sufficient reason for you to do so. In the face of disappointment and discouragement, trust Him. He has never failed in the past, and He most certainly will not fail you.
Call this to mind and have hope.
Blessings.
