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The Bible Breakdown
Lamentations 05: Hope After the Storm
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. Lamentations chapter 5, and today's title is Hope After the Storm Hope After the Storm. We're going to get all that in just a second, but if you want to open up your Bibles to Lamentations chapter 5, if you're new around here, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion where you can meet a whole lot of other people who are digging into God's Word with us, and you'll be able to go through there and read the different devotions that they do on every single chapter in God's Word. It is amazing to see what God is using them to do and, as we always say, the more we dig, the more we find. Well, if you have your Bibles, want to open up with us to Lamentations chapter five? We're going to be ending this today and the overall idea of Lamentations chapter five is that idea of getting back to a place where we're able to have a conversation with God. Many times, you know, we look at the overall theme of hope in the dark or hope in darkness and when we go through difficult times. The goal of going through grief, the goal of going through something difficult, is to keep going, is to not get to a place where we settle, but get to a place where we continue. We don't want to camp out, we don't want to get our mail forwarded to grief and difficulty. We want to move through that season. And in chapter one we talked about learning how to cry. Chapter two, we learned about the idea of just being honest with God about where we are. Chapter three is restoring hope. Chapter five is kind of giving ourself an opportunity to mourn the loss of what could have been, what would have been, and accepting what is. And then today is not the end, but it is the beginning of a healthy conversation. That's the point of getting back to the place. And in Jeremiah's world he had been hoping for something better, but eventually the nation of Jerusalem was destroyed because of their sins and unwillingness to repent. And he writes these five poems. That is kind of helping him process the grief and helping us process the grief as well. And so we finally end this. And I love the honesty of God's word, because if this were a movie, if this was not inspired, it would end with oh, and he was fine when he had ice cream. You know what I mean. But no, it's not like that at all. He's still upset. These people are still dead. So he's still grappling, but there's hope. So let's read this together today and let's really have a serious conversation about what true grief and mourning looks like. You ready Lamentations.
Speaker 1:Chapter 5, verse 1 says this Remember, lord, what has happened to us. See how we have been disgraced. Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. We are orphaned and fatherless. Our mothers are widowed. We have to pay for water to drink, and even firewood is expensive. Sounds like eggs. Those who pursue us are at our heels. We're exhausted but are not given to rest. Sounds like eggs.
Speaker 1:Claves have now become our masters. There is no one left to rescue us. We hunt for food at the risk of our own lives, for violence rules the countryside. The famine has blackened our skin and though bait in the oven, our enemies rape women in Jerusalem and young girls in all the towns of Judah. Our princes are being hanged by their thumbs and our elders are treated with contempt. Young men are led away to work at millstones and boys stagger under heavy loads of woods.
Speaker 1:The elders no longer sit in the city gates, young men no longer dance and sing. Joy has left our hearts. Our dancing has turned to mourning. The garlands have fallen from our heads and weep for us because we have sinned. Our hearts are sick and weary. Our eyes grow dim with tears. For Jerusalem is empty and desolate, a place haunted by jackals.
Speaker 1:But, lord, you remain the same forever. Your throne continues from generation to generation. Why do you continue to forget us? Why have you abandoned us so long? Restore us, o Lord. Bring us back to you again. Give us back the joys we once had. Or have you utterly rejected us? Are you angry with us still? Wow, I mean, that's honest. I mean that's true. There's nothing there. That is not exactly how it feels when you finally get to a place where you're able to talk with God.
Speaker 1:Maybe you're listening or watching this today and you've experienced some grief, you've experienced some difficulty, but if you're honest, you would realize and maybe you would say you know, I've experienced some things, but I don't know that I've experienced what some people have. Well, let me tell you what it feels like to experience true grief. The cycles of grief are. You go through denial, you go through anger, you go through pleading, you go through acceptance and then you start over again and the process of grief is like waves that come and go and come and go. And one of the worst things that can happen when you go through a season of grief is for someone to tell you just get over it. They would love to. Can I tell you for anyone experiencing grief, they would absolutely love to just get over it. But the more you love something, the harder it is to come to terms with it being gone. As the great philosopher Vision in the Avengers movie says, what is grief but love persevering, and the reality of it is is.
Speaker 1:The book of Lamentations tells us exactly what to do when we experience extreme grief. This is what we do. Number one is we learn how to cry. We learn how to just be okay with not being okay. We don't stay there, but we start with realizing we are there. Second thing is is we get honest with God, get honest about what's going on in our heart and we just try to try to just stop acting like he doesn't already know anyway, right, try to just stop acting like he doesn't already know anyway, right. Step three is we continue to have our hope in the Lord. I am hurting, but I trust God.
Speaker 1:Step four, which is chapter four, is we begin to just have a season of mourning over what was, and then today, season five, we continue the conversation. I love how it ends with a question. It ends with a question because there is the expectation that God will respond, and honestly, he does respond. God told them that they were going to go into a time of exile for 70 years because of the sins that they had committed. And guess what happened? 70 years they went into exile, but as Babylon continued to grow until Persia came and took over and there was a king by the name of Cyrus the Great, when he took over again, he started letting the people go back again. Not one day passed the amount of time before God started to bring them back again. God did not forget his promises. And so what can we learn today, based on what God's word says, what can we apply today? Here's the thing If you're going through grief, don't stop going.
Speaker 1:Don't stop moving through it. Realize that you're going to go through cycles and go through seasons, and God's here for it. He's not going to leave you. He's going to be with you every step of the way. Your job is to keep moving and never stop talking to God. God is faithful. He's not intimidated by your tears, he's not offended by your questions. But don't stop moving. Joy comes in the morning. 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 every way. Lord, as we finish up this chapter, I've realized, god, that for many of us we're going through various different seasons of grief. I pray, god, that as we do, that you'll be with us and that we'll never stop talking to you. Maybe there's somebody listening to this today that they're not going through that grief, but maybe you're opening their eyes, holy Spirit, to see someone in a new light, because there's someone in their life that is. I pray you'll give us grace to reach out to people and to love people and to help other people find that healing. We celebrate you today In Jesus' name. We pray Amen, don't forget. God's word says in Lamentations, chapter 3, verse 22,. The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. For 1 John, chapter 1.
