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The Bible Breakdown
Lamentations 04: God Restores What We Surender
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. Lamentations chapter 4, and today's title is God Restores what we Surrender. God Restores what we Surrender. It reminds me so many times that we can't really expect someone to do something unless we've given them the tools to do it. And how many times do we ask God to do an amazing thing or to do something in our life but we don't give him the tools? Give him all of us to do it with, and we're going to see about what all that looks like in just a moment. So, if you have your Bibles, I want to open up with me to Lamentations chapter 4. While you're doing that, if you're new around here, make sure you take a moment to like, share, subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast. It really does help and I see so many of you who are doing that consistently. Thank you so much for joining in with us and make sure you're going to the Bible breakdown discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people doing devotion entries every single day on that group and the whole goal of it is to create a community where we are able to do life together, and one of the things we love and say around here all the time is that the more we dig, the more we find, and God has intended for us to do life together in community. Well, if you have your Bibles, I want to turn with me to Lamentations, chapter four, remember. The overall theme of Lamentations is hope in darkness. Hope in the darkness and the dark places. Jeremiah has watched his worst nightmare come true Jerusalem has been destroyed, all these bad things are happening, and now he is writing these five poems that are talking about what he's experiencing. And what we talked about yesterday is really the best way to look at this is from chapter three, moving out in both directions. Chapter one was all about learning to cry. Number two is about asking God the hard questions. Number three is about daring still to have hope and now looking forward. How do we move forward? How do we move forward when we have dealt with difficult things, and one of the things is we have to give to God all the broken pieces.
Speaker 1:It reminds me of one time I remember that I went to this dry cleaner. I don't go to the dry cleaner very often, but I went to this dry cleaner to pick up my suit. And the reason why I went to pick up my suit was because I was getting ready to go to a wedding and as I was getting ready to go to this wedding and I needed to go and get this done, and I was kind of running behind. And so I go in there and they're like sir, we don't have your suit. And I was like you better believe you have my suit, somebody needs to find me my suit. I was in a bad mood, right, and it wasn't their fault, it was my fault, and I later had to apologize to them for this. But finally they said, sir, you never brought a suit in here. And I said, well, of course I did, only to realize I hadn't brought my suit in there. I took my suit to another place. So not only was I completely in the wrong, but I also embarrassed myself by going to one of their competitors. It was terrible.
Speaker 1:Well, how many times do we look at God and say God, why haven't you restored me? Why haven't you fixed this? Why haven't you done this, that and the other? He's starting to remember the past glory of Jerusalem and in doing that, he's giving the broken pieces to God so that God can do something beautiful with it. Let's read God's word today and see if maybe there's a powerful, hard, deep and beautiful lesson here today for all of us. You ready Lamentations.
Speaker 1:Chapter 4, verse 1 says this how the gold has lost its luster. Even the finest gold has become dull. The sacred gemstones lie scattered in the streets. It says this Feed their young, but not my people, israel. They ignore their children's cries like ostriches in the desert. Pause. I have no idea what an ostrich does in the desert, but apparently is a jerk Okay. Verse 4. The partridge well, I'm thinking about birds now. The parched tongues of their little ones stick to the roof of their mouths in thirst. So ostriches do not win parent of the year awards. Right, the children cry for bread, but no one has given them any. Verse five the people who once ate the richest foods now beg in the streets for anything they can get. Those who once wore the finest clothes now search the garbage dumps for food.
Speaker 1:The guilt of my people is greater than that of Sodom, where utter disaster struck in a moment and no hand offered help. Our princes once glowed with health, brighter than snow, whiter than milk. Their faces were as ruddy as rubies and their appearance like fine jewels, but now their faces are blacker than soot. No one recognizes them in the streets. Their skin sticks to their bones as it is dry and hard as wood. Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, starving. They waste away for lack of food from the fields. Tenderhearted women have cooked their own children. That's terrible.
Speaker 1:Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the sins of her priests, who defiled the city and shed innocent blood. They wandered blindly through the streets, so defiled by blood that no one dared touch them. Get away. The people shouted at them you are defiled, don't touch us. So they fled to distant lands and wandered among foreign nations, but none would let them stay. The Lord himself has scattered them and he no longer helps them, but shows no respect for the priests and no longer honors the leaders.
Speaker 1:We looked in vain for our allies to come and save us, but we were looking to nations who could not help us. We couldn't go into the streets without danger to our lives. Our end was near and our days were numbered. We couldn't go into the streets without danger to our lives. Our end was near and our days were numbered. We are doomed. Our enemies were swifter than eagles in flight. If we fled to the mountains, they found us. If we hid in the wilderness, they were waiting for us there. Our king, the Lord's anointed, the very life of our nation, was caught in their snares. He had thought that his shadow would only protect us against any nation on earth.
Speaker 1:Are you rejoicing in the land of Uz, o people of Edom? But you too must drink from the Lord's cup of anger. You too will be stripped naked in your drunkenness. O beautiful Jerusalem, your punishment will end. You will soon return from exile, but, edom, your punishment is just Wow.
Speaker 1:I mean, you can hear the anguish, the heartache and the bitterness of soul that Jeremiah is dealing with here. He's grappling with just coming to grips with what's happened and he's saying that that I love my people. These are great people, but now they're devastated. Now the sweetest women, as he was saying, the sweetest moms, have eaten their children. That's terrible, and apparently ostriches are really bad parents, because he said, the parents are like ostriches in the desert. I don't know what that means, but it's not good and all these bad things are happening. But what he's doing is, he is finally just reckoning with what he sees. And so here's the question based on what God's word says, what can we apply today? And this is what I want to encourage you with, maybe challenge you with a little bit.
Speaker 1:I think that Jeremiah had to reckon with what had happened so that he could find healing. He had to admit, he had to mourn over the loss so that he could find a way to move forward. And I want to ask you the question are you still holding on to a dead dream and it's causing you to be bitter toward God? Because you thought that he could, you really thought that he should, you really hope that he would, but he decided to do something different and you're having a hard time moving forward because you still carry this, this thing, and you've not given yourself a chance to mourn over it, cry over it and then move forward.
Speaker 1:Can I tell you I've had to do this several times in my life. There have been several times in my life when I would have a dream for what I thought God could do, only for God to do something different. Now, ultimately, it was better. Every single time God has done something different. It has always and I mean this always been better than what I would have hoped. However, it was still different from what I had hoped, and I would go through a season where I couldn't even enjoy what God was doing because I was bitter about what he didn't do. And finally I have had to learn and I keep having to learn this over and over again that just because God does something better, it doesn't mean that we automatically are okay with it in our heart. Sometimes we have to go through a season of mourning what could have been.
Speaker 1:Let me give you an example. Let's say that you know somebody who really wanted to start their own business. They thought God had given them the gifts, talents, abilities and opportunities to do it, and so they started that business. And in the process of starting that business, things went okay for a while, but then they started to go south. But during the process of all that, god opened a door for them to go work somewhere else. And now where they are, they're doing well. They're making more money than they had before. They have influence. God's using them to make a difference. They can be with their family, everything is good, but they're not enjoying it because their dream died. All they ever wanted was to open that business. All they ever wanted was to do the thing, and the thing didn't work out. And they can't even enjoy where they are now because they're still broken hearted about what didn't happen.
Speaker 1:Do you know, what the worst thing is to do Is to tell that person I used to just get over it, it's fine, just be over it, just whatever. That's terrible Because many times we don't know how. And can I tell you one of the things I've learned in my life? Sometimes we need to have a funeral, sometimes we need to go through the stages of grief and just sit for a moment and say that hurts, that's what I wanted to happen. It didn't happen. I trust God. But God, can I just be honest with you and tell you that is painful and then, when you just admit what it is, put it in the ground, bury it and cry over it. Then you can move forward.
Speaker 1:And I think that's what Jeremiah is doing in our text today. He is finding a way to say to the Lord Lord, this is hard, this is difficult. Let me share with you what I see, but yet remember yesterday's text. But I still dare to have hope, because the mercies of the Lord endure forever. Is there something today that you need to turn over to him? The pieces of a broken dream, pieces of something that didn't happen? Lay it at his feet and say, god, I don't understand why, but I still trust you, and if you can do that, I'm telling you healing is on the way. Let's pray together right now.
Speaker 1:God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you're with us and you're for us in more ways than we can imagine. And, lord, I know for some people they're going to listen to this and they're going to think, wow, that's great and they're going to move on. But for others, this is what they needed to hear. They're broken, they're wounded over what could have been, what should have been, but what didn't happen. I pray, god, that you will move as only you can today, and we trust you with that. In Jesus' name. We pray Amen. Don't forget. God's Word says in Lamentations 3, verse 22,. The faithful love of the Lord endures forever. His mercies never cease. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for the final chapter. Lamentations, chapter 5.
