Fast Devotional #8 – We Are Not Consumed
-
By Matt Destry – Communications Pastor
Scripture
Lamentations 3:22-24 (NIV)
22
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
Insight
In the midst of a trial or hardship, it can be difficult to keep a positive focus. When the world seems to be falling down around us, the temptation is to allow our perspective to fall along with it. Sure, we maintain a limited amount of faith, but like a drowning man at sea, the primary driver of our faith is limited to survival, rather than the pursuit of God and overcoming in life.
Jeremiah knows this experience intimately. While Jerusalem was on the brink of exile, the city was laid to waste, and untold horrors were being experienced by the people of God. Jeremiah despaired of life itself, but in the midst of some of the most heartbreaking Scripture (try reading Lamentations 1 and 2), we also have some of the most strikingly hopeful verses as well.
“Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed…”
Even at the nations’ lowest point, Jeremiah shows the way forward by remembering the character and nature of God. He declares that while life couldn’t get worse at that time, the mercy and compassion of God is worth trusting in and focussing on. Waiting on God, in quietness and trust, seemed to be Jeremiah’s strategy. After all, God is trustworthy – He remembers His promises and is faithful to His covenant with His people.
To wait on the Lord means to cease from activity that stems from anxiety, worry and despair. It is to remember God in prayer, and then actively live out our prayers in submission to God, knowing that His plan is to restore. How often do we forget this, and in times of stress, it only makes matters worse! The Lord truly is our portion – more joyful, hopeful and certain than life itself. Trusting in Him brings our lives into alignment with Heaven, where peace and righteousness dwells.
Prayer
Loving Father, I thank you that because of your great love we are not consumed. I thank you that You are compassionate and kind, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. I thank you that I can trust you with my life an circumstances, even the things that are not going so well. You are my portion, and I will actively wait, in prayer and action, as you bring victory in my life. Amen.