Lamentations: Readings and the Thoughts that followed

Lamentations 1:18 ~ “The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word; but hear, all you peoples, and see my suffering; my young women and my young men have gone into captivity."
  • ​The problem is not God.
  • He has never changed, but we have and do.
  • We rebel against Him on a continuous basis and He works events in our life to bring us back to Himself.
  • Sometimes, if we are a hard learner it takes hard events. 9/18/18
Lamentations 2:14 ~ "Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles that are false and misleading.
  • God's people are not called to tell easy or crowd pleasing things.
  • Give people God's word, regardless of the how hard it is.
  • Give it with love, not hate or venom, but out of love you are required to say the hard things.
  • ​To know the right thing to do and not do it is sin. ​9/19/18
Lamentations 3:25 ~ "The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him."
  • Not that your life will be perfect, but you can have comfort knowing that God is on your side. 9/20/18
Lamentations 3:31-32 ~ "For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;"
  • God disciplines His own, in order to bring them back to Himself, not to destroy us.  Continue to be obedient. 
Lamentations 4:9 ~ "Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger, who wasted away, pierced by lack of the fruits of the field."
  • Don't forget the hungry people around us. 
  • We, or at least I, easily remember the people around the world suffering from genocide or disease, but I rarely remember to pray for the hungry.
  • ​OR, better yet, to give them something to eat!!!! ​9/21/18
Lamentations 5:19 ~ "But you, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations."
  • The book of Lamentations has been very challenging to read through.
  • The name is completely appropriate. 
  • The writer's anguish is displayed throughout, but he continued to comeback to God and His holiness. 
  • And that is something we constantly struggle with.
  • We think of OUR pain, OUR struggles, or OUR trials... God is the center of the universe, and we would do well to remember that. 9/22/18