Hope In the Midst of Despair

Our nation, which has been so blessed by God, was originally founded on biblical principles. Yet, in our supposed intelligence, we have chosen to set aside God's ways for our ways. We behave and live as if there will be no consequences for our actions.

Since 1973, more than 63 million babies have been killed by means of abortion. For the youngest age demographic, 850 out of every 1000 babies has been aborted.

There have been riots for various causes for decades. Recently, these riots have been set against the Jewish people. They are set against people who are wrongly accused of various actions. They are promoting peoples and countries who want to destroy our nation and turn us into a communist nation, a socialist nation, or a nation that has no respect for women and children.

Maybe the despair we might feel is caused by that which hits much closer to home. Maybe we have seen family members suffer physically, mentally, and emotionally. Maybe we have seen loved ones taken from us. It is possible that major financial setbacks have rocked our own world.

When you think about these various issues, the predicament in which we, our society, and our nation finds itself, one wonders if there is any hope. Are we forced to live in discouragement? Does God even care about our nation? Our families? Us personally?Does God even care about our churches?

Today, the message title defines what I believe God wants to remind us about. There can still be hope in the midst of despair.

God Gives Warning to His People. - 4.5-9

In God’s, incredible love, He still gave warning of impending doom. In these verses, we see that God still provided opportunity for people to be aware of what He was planning to do.

There are times in our society and in societies of long ago when disaster takes place. People seem to be surprised by the suddenness and swiftness of such disasters. But oftentimes there was warning. The most obvious situations involved nations and people caught up in immorality. There are those who seem surprised at the high number of individuals with sexually transmitted diseases. The AIDS epidemic has the best thinkers bewildered. Yet, the Bible warns that those who sow the wind will reap a whirlwind. There are clear guidelines about God's pattern for sexual relationships. Any society which turns its up its nose against God, and His standards is warned in the Bible of impending judgment.

We see quite a picture in Jeremiah 4:9: “It shall come about in that day,” declares the Lord, “that the heart of the king and the heart of the princes will fail; and the priests will be appalled and the prophets will be astounded.” Those who were arrogant and proud and fearless, thinking God would not dare to go against His chosen, are seen as being shaken to their very core.

It should really have come as no surprise, but the leaders had convinced themselves that God was really just a nice guy Who had chosen them. The leaders probably felt that because God's hand had been upon their nation at one point in time, He would always bless whatever they did, no matter how they behaved.

There is a warning of future judgment, which can be quite imminent. The concern is in how we respond. The people of Judah did not respond well.

The People Showed Scorning. - 4.10-18

Jeremiah interjects some comments of his own in Jeremiah 4:10 “Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Surely You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’; whereas a sword touches the throat.” God himself did not deceive, but He allowed false prophets to mislead the people. The people were so easily misled because they did not look to God, nor did their religious and political leaders.

As believers, we can be very easily misled by some very noble sounding words and actions. We must keep looking to the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. We cannot find guidance by looking only to people, programs, or places. It is only in God's word where we can know for certain what to do.

In versus 11–13, God paints a picture of the upcoming judgment. How painful it can be to go through trials and testing. Still, these pale in comparison to God's judgment. Trials and testings are designed to make us stronger as a result of them. God's judgment finds people not getting stronger nor growing, but ends up being stripped and guilty.

Jeremiah 4:14 offers hope: “Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, That you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts Lodge within you?” It shows that there is still opportunity to repent. It was not too late to come back to God. Even with the inevitable judgment and destruction that awaited the land and the cities and many of the people, God still gave opportunity for repentance and salvation.

I am so very thankful that this is still God's procedure of operation today. We live in an age of grace that is incredible. With all of the evil in our society; with all of the backsliding and apathy in the churches in our land; God's grace still beckons us to repent and be saved.

Now, if the people think that they have been tricked into sinning against God; lest they feel that the verdict is unfair; God attempted to remind them of the facts. The judgment is due to the peoples rebellion. They had brought it upon themselves and they were about to reap what they had sown. It had gone to their very inmost being.

Now I would like to skip forward to verses 27–31. I'll come back to the verses. I'm temporarily skipping towards the end, then I’ll come back to the skipped verses, as we should gain some insight into Jeremiah personally.

There Will Be Another Morning. - 4.27-31

Jeremiah 4:27 states, “For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation, Yet I will not execute a complete destruction.” God promises that there will be a remnant. There will not be complete annihilation. Even in the midst of despair, there was hope.

In our world today, we wonder if there will be any hope left. When evil and trouble come crashing down around us, it is so tempting to give up or give in and just become swallowed up in it. But for those who walk with the Lord, there will not be complete destruction.

We see that those whom the people had chased after and had been in love with are now the ones who will desert Judah and actually attack it.

Just like Judah, we cannot afford to make convenient bedfellows. We dare not compromise our standards, thinking that God's ways might be somewhat archaic and prehistoric. For if we do, the very companions and agreements that we make, will be the very ones which will come against us.

What has taken place in Judah, can take place in North America, as well. Not only can it take place in North America, it can take place in what we would consider strong, even evangelical churches.

There is hope in the midst of despair. But sometimes we have to endure the agony and despair before hope can be seen.

Jeremiah Experiences Mourning. - 4.19-26

As we jump back to those skipped verses, we see how Jeremiah personally identifies and describes the anguish of his own spirit. He sees what is and what will happen because of the peoples rebellion against God.

Have you ever experienced watching someone firsthand, when they received news of a terrible tragedy? Unless you have personally experienced the pain and anguish of spirit; that helplessness; that need to scream and strike at someone; that hope that you can just curl up inside yourself in anguish; that need to be held close and tight in hopes of relieving the heartache; there is no way anyone can personally and fully identify. That is the picture of what Jeremiah experiences.

Why do I take time with such a personal section? To force us to ask ourselves some tough questions. Do you and I hurt for those who are lost?

Do we suffer intense anguish over those who made a faith commitment, but have seemingly walked away from God?

When our friend’s husband or wife walks away from a marriage, does our heart agonize?

When someone else's child defies all of the biblical training and nurture in order to follow the ways of the world, do our hearts pound within us?

I am a stickler for solid theology. I am adamant that we should live in a righteous, upright manner. Yet how many of us, including myself are callous, emotionally speaking, when it comes to the spiritual bankruptcy of someone outside our own immediate family?

I believe that if you and I would be a bit more attached to people and their spiritual well-being, we could be vessels of hope; not only to the wayward, but to those who are hurting right alongside them. We can be to them, that little flame in the blackest of nights. When the world seems to them to be in a fog, we can, by our caring presence, bring assurance and hope.

But this can only happen if we are willing to be a little bit like Jeremiah. Too often, when someone is going through a crisis, or walking in sin, we are like gapers at an accident or a fire. Jeremiah did not want this. He hurt for the people. He was in pain seeing the results of their rebellion.

We are not to cheer when people “get what they deserve." We must instead weep and mourn, doing all that we can to show that there can be hope in the midst of despair.

Reflections

This message from Jeremiah could be quite depressing, yet we see that There can still be hope in the midst of despair.

We can learn from the mistakes of the past. We can look carefully and see God's call to repent and be saved. We can hear the faint whisper amidst the roar of destruction that there will be something left. God wants his children to feel and experience His love.

I was touched awhile back by a beautiful story that I felt was a wonderful picture of our Lord. In the whisper test, Maryanne Bird writes:

I grew up knowing I was different, and I hated it. I was born with a cleft palette, and when I started school, my classmates made it clear to me how I looked to others: a little girl with a misshapen lip, crooked nose, lopsided teeth, and garbled speech.

When school mates ask, "what happened to your lip?", I'd tell them I'd fallen and cut it on a piece of glass. Somehow it seemed more acceptable to have suffered an accident than to have been born different. I was convinced that no one outside of my family could love me.

There was, however, a teacher in the second grade, whom we all adored. She was short, round, happy – – a sparkling lady.

Annually, we had a hearing test… The teacher gave the test to everyone in the class, and finally, it was my turn. I knew from past years that as we stood against the door and covered one ear, the teacher sitting at her desk, would whisper something, and we would have to repeat it back – – things like "the sky is blue"or "do you have new shoes?" I waited there for those words that God must have put into her mouth. Those seven words that changed my life. The teacher said, in her whisper, "I wish you were my little girl."

God says to every person deformed by sin, "I wish you were my son" or I wish you were my daughter." He does not delight in destroying people. God does not look at us as garbage and rejoice throwing us in the dumpster. He sees us in the midst of our despair and He wants to give us hope. He wants us to know that in Christ, we are special. As we give ourselves to Him, He no longer sees the person deformed by sin, only that precious son or daughter.