By David ReayFriday 5 Dec 2014LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Lamentations 1:1-2
1 Jerusalem,once so full of people,
is now deserted.
She who was once great among the nations
now sits alone like a widow.
Once the queen of all the earth,
she is now a slave.
2 She sobs through the night;
tears stream down her cheeks.
Among all her lovers,
there is no one left to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed her
and become her enemies. (NLT)
Any student of world history realises that human empires come and go. Powerful nations aren’t always powerful. Prosperous peoples don’t remain prosperous. There is an ebb and flow to human history. The mighty are fallen and the weak rise up.
This can be seen in the story of the Old Testament people of God. They knew bitter captivity,miraculous liberation,futile wandering,successful conquest,military might,petty division,victory and defeat. Jeremiah here laments the fall of the once great Jerusalem.
Its people have largely been taken off to exile in Babylon as a result of their persistent refusal to be in practice who they were in principle: a light of God in a dark world.
On a more individual scale we can experience a similar desolation. Because of wilful disobedience or the inexplicable working of other human beings we can lament like Jeremiah. The golden days are no more. The power has gone,the reputation is in ruins. We may experience something like an exile from the favour of God.
All this might lead to despair if God were to leave it at that. But he doesn’t. Later in this same book,Jeremiah speaks of the ever renewing mercies of God and his ongoing faithfulness. The past greatness may have gone,but great is God’s faithfulness. This may be a season of brokenness but God has not abandoned us. Our seasons of life ebb and flow but the love of God is always present. There is always hope.
Blessings
David Reay