Please watch the video introduction to my message here:https://youtu.be/SUx6QW9J7Gw
(As seen through trials and hardship)
Lamentations 3:1-6 (written by Jeremiah the prophet)
Repentance and Hope
I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He hath led — me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light. Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.
My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones. He hath built against me, and compassed me with gall and travail. He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.
At times the dealings of the Lord seem cruel and harsh and unrelenting. Jeremiah felt this way. He was called the weeping prophet. He spoke of the coming destruction of Judah by the Assyrian army if the people did not repent and forsake their idols. And unlike other prophets that prophesied of this coming but died prior, Jeremiah lived through it and saw with his own eyes the destruction of Judah. The people wanted their idols (as we want ours, homes, cars, wealth, etc.), and they believed that Egypt would join them to battle Assyria, and together they would overthrow Assyria. Jeremiah’s prophecy that Assyria would defeat Egypt and Judah was viewed as treasonous. Jeremiah was accused of tearing down the people’s confidence instead of building them up. The contrast was particularly noted when all the other prophets (false prophets) prophesied victory.
The people listened to the false prophets that prophesied Judah and Egypt’s victory. They would not listen to Jeremiah as we do not listen to messages of sin, repentance, and righteousness. In fact, they put Jeremiah in “jail” (basically a hole in the ground) with very little food. He was a faithful prophet. I wonder how many of us could go against the tide for as long as he did without breaking down? And then there was Job. His hardship was intense, but through it, he gained much. He made a cornerstone statement in Job 13:15.
“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.”
“Maintain my ways before Him,” is a strong statement. When things are tough, completely not fair, the temptation is to tell the Lord I’m done with seeking and serving. However, Job did not do that. He was wealthy, but his greatest wealth was his character. His fear of God was deep, a rare jewel among those with wealth, which is why he was singled out by satan.
This attitude of trusting God despite heavy loss (his wealth and children) and great personal pain, along with the constant rebuttal of his “friends,” is enough to turn anyone against God, but not Job. What I may see, feel, or understand does not define God. He defines himself through His Word and the Cross, which Job did not have. There should not be any hardship, however severe, that can undermine us acknowledging His love. If a hardship does, it is only because we do not understand the Cross. As diamonds are precisely cut to reflect His Glory, we should each be fully dedicated to knowing and serving Him. How did Jeremiah, Job, Isaiah, and others do it? They knew God! They knew Him and hence were sold out to Him.
They knew the history of God’s dealings with Israel as being both loving and good. If, as an example, God felt in His loving judgment that He needed to take Job’s life, then Job would submit to that decision. This is never God’s thought, but it points to Job’s deep trust in the Lord and the intensity of his trials. On one occasion, James and John asked Jesus if they should call fire down upon a Samaritan town because of their rejection of him, but Jesus said to them…
Luke 9:54-56
And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did?
But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
Hardship and trials are never meant to harm us. They are meant to bring us into a deeper walk with the Lord. Left to ourselves, without trial or hardship, we tend to be self-absorbed, and life revolves around us. Christ’s life revolved around “doing the will of His Father.” He told the disciples when they returned from buying food in a Samaritan village that His food was to do the will of Him who sent him.
John 4:31-34
— In the meanwhile, his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.
But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.
Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him aught to eat?
Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
His lengthy prayers were his lifeline to the Father and the assurance He needed. From these intimate times came His success in teaching and healing. As our Lord and our Elder Brother, He is our example, and our lives should have the same purpose.
Lamentations 3:20-24
(Jeremiah – his crushing trial is producing the wine of righteousness).
My soul hath them still in remembrance (his afflictions) and is humbled in me (the end result of fruitful trials)
This I recall to mind (a mind trained in righteousness ), that it is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed because His compassions fail not (how would we know this if we did not experience it). They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him (according to the depth of the trial so His mercy and faithfulness go deeper – if we will come to Him).
There is such a richness in the chapters of Job and Jeremiah as well as Isaiah, men who have endured the rod of God’s discipline; the “pruning of the vine dresser,” only to deeply experience the embrace of the Father and bear His fruit. All trials have an appointed end, and it is always to bring us into a deeper relationship with our Father. We can prolong it by distrusting Him, by complaining, following in the footsteps of the Israelites, but this only points to a divided heart which is a miserable place to be.
Revelation 3:15-16
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
Revelation 3:19-20
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten ( rebuke is to prove one wrong, chasten is to train up a child. In the vernacular, I’m going to spank you and then once I got your attention, teach you how you should go): be zealous therefore, and repent (be quick to respond to His conviction).
Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and will sup with him, and he with me (such intimacy).
Towards the end of Jobs trial, the fruit God was pruning for was becoming evident. Up to this point, Job was always defending his position.
Job 42:1-3
Then Job answered — the LORD, and said, I know that thou canst do everything and that no thought can be withheld from thee (Job learned that God was so much more intimately acquainted with our thoughts, more than he ever realized). Who is he that hideth counsel (truth) without knowledge (he’s referring to himself), therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
**There is the necessity in God’s economy to break the flesh’s authority (pride) in us. It cannot be compromised with, reasoned with, or agreed with. It has to be crushed. There are no other options, and so we must (our carnal nature) be ruined. I pity the believer who has not gone through these hardships or is trying to love God and the World at the same time. It’s a miserable place to be because he or she will not know the intimacy or the healing touch of the Father. Without this, life is barren and dry—the definition of religion, a set of rules without relationship.
If something good occurs, it pale’s in comparison to what we could experience in Christ. We need to be broken. Without being broken, we would be more apt to credit ourselves. Hard circumstances such as losing our job, a spouse leaving us, health issues, or failures are no different from what we read in the scriptures. We read of wars, enemy armies coming, crop failures, no water or food. Yet we do not take to heart that God has faithfully dealt with all this and that He is more than worthy of our trust.
We think that our trials are something new, yet by these trials, God finally has our attention; He has workable material now. He can rebuild us.
He uses “new material,” a willing heart that is learning to only want Him. If this foundation is not laid correctly, then as God uses the man or woman and the praise of others come, they should take the praise unto themselves, stumbling themselves and others. The Lord always, without exception, has good in store for those that remain humble before Him and trust Him through the trials. Lamentations 3:24 is the other side of the story. Jeremiah’s testimony after having gone through his trials.
Lamentations 3:24-28
The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
It is good for a man that he bears the yoke in his youth.
He sitteth alone and keepeth silence because he hath borne it upon him (God wastes no time in one’s youth to start training in righteousness).
To “wait” has several meanings; one is very appropriate for this verse. It is the definition of making rope, to bind or twist plus Hope, which may seem out of place. My understanding is that by trusting the Lord, I bind my soul around the only One who is able to rescue and save me, and in so doing, hope fills my soul, and more so as I get to know Him better. Therefore via our trust in Christ, we bind ourselves to Him, taking on His strength, gaining His wisdom, leaning on Him, and truly living supernaturally. The more we can fully trust, the stronger we become. Really knowing Him is the key to our trusting Him. David knew the Lord well…
Psalms 103:10-14
He hath not dealt with us after our sins (our sin was dealt with on the Cross period, therefore to think God is punishing us like the widow Elijah stayed with is wrong, it is the lie of the enemy to prevent us from coming to Him ) nor does He reward us according to our iniquities( though we do experience the consequences of them). As for the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed — our transgressions from us.
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
Pitieth- A verb meaning to have compassion, to have mercy, to find mercy. The word pictures a deep, kindly sympathy and sorrow felt for another who has been struck with affliction or misfortune (sin), accompanied with a desire to relieve the suffering (Christ). The word occurs forty-seven times in the Old Testament, with God being by far the most common subject and His afflicted people the object.
Psalms 32:7-10
Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which has no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
Since the time of Adam’s sin, God has had compassion for His people. How easy it is for us to think that when things go bad or are difficult that somehow God is the cause of it or allowed it when it is the result of man’s fall. If, as parents, we keep interceding and preventing our children from owning up to their bad decisions, what are we teaching them? They must experience the consequences of poor decisions, and we only buffer or prevent them when it is serious. Jesus does that. He offers Eternal Life but then often allows us to mature in truth by experiencing the result of poor decisions. Some people who believe in New Age call bad things Karma happening. However, as believers, we do not believe that there is some cosmic power balancing out the good and the bad. We know by Biblical teaching that people will reap what they sow. It’s a life principle that God has established. The result of man’s rebellion has consequences across the board, hence the importance of living for Christ. He’s the only one strong enough to use the wrong for right in my soul.
Through it all, God works good. As His son or daughter, if you are not taking your problems and concerns to Him, you are missing a great opportunity to see God work on your behalf. In 1 Kings, there is a widow that believed God was punishing her. God caused the stream that Elijah was drinking from to dry up. He could have kept it flowing, but it was time that Elijah continued to minister, and this widow was on God’s heart. Bear in mind that this widow was “a nobody,” (according to society standards) and without means to sufficiently provide for herself and her son. Yet this was the woman God wanted Elijah to stay with.
1 Kings 17:9-12
Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
It can’t get more serious, desperate, or hopeless than this. These are the conditions that God likes to work with. Just like Gideon’s army, 300 men against an army. Without God’s intervention, they were on a fool’s mission. Obedience on Gideon’s part and on the widow’s part was paramount to seeing God’s hand. We need to remember this when we feel we are on a fool’s mission. In these times, God’s reputation is on the line, and He will not fail, though the answer may “delay.” As we see, the leap of faith that Gideon and the widow took led them to victory; Gideon won the war, and the widow had food for her, her son, and Elijah for many days. It’s never what we see but what we don’t see; therefore, faith is always needed. Faith in an immutable God is not only wise but essential to joyful living.
1 Kings 17:14-16
For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.
And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house did eat many days.
And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Elijah.
And why did God do this? Is it not His nature to do so?
Exodus 34:5-6
And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there ( Moses), and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth (is this the God we believe in?)
But then trials come to test us to see whether we have appreciated or taken note of God’s goodness. The miracle of the manna that was daily before them should have spoken to them of a caring God, but they soon forgot and, even worse, complained. At times we are the same. We expect it, and it seems the widow did as well. When her son became ill, she could have been like the Centurion, “speak the word and my servant (son) will be made well,” having witnessed and been miraculously provided for, rather she gave into fear and guilt.
1 Kings 17:17-18
After this, the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!”
God never does this. It’s not in His nature, but how often we believe the lie of the enemy. It is such a dangerous lie. Instead of going to God in our time of need, this lie keeps us from Him. We must train our response to be, “Lord, how in this situation do you want to make yourself real to me? What do you want your son/ servant, daughter/ servant to see or to know of you?” That’s the response He is seeking. He wanted the widow to know that whatever her sin/guilt was, it did not prevent God from loving her. She needed to see the worth God placed on her and her son, so much so that He sent one of the greatest prophets to live with her. Her eyes were closed until Elijah carried her resurrected son down to her.
*1 Kings 17:19-22
And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged and laid him on his own bed. And he cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.
Only God knows why this severe trial came, but my guess is it was for the good of Elijah and the widow. Elijah’s words make me believe that this was a hard trial for him, and the widow also learned something. It seems as though she had some doubt even after witnessing the provision that God provided through Elijah.
1 Kings 17:23-24
And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.”
God uses trials to bring to surface issues in us that we may have buried years ago. A clean soul is what God is seeking. Complete transparency, no hidden skeletons in our subconscious closet. At times we feel we are not good enough, which we are not, but our “goodness” is granted to us in the form of righteousness. Our faith in Christ gives us standing before Him, goodness does not.
Isaiah 64:5-6
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins, we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like dirty rags.
We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
But what is God’s response?
Isaiah 64:3-4
When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old, no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him. You meet him (her) who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways.
If we take to heart these words, we will be unstoppable. In other words, there will be no hindrance to our faith. Like the centurion that said, just speak the word, and your servant shall be healed, and the widow that refused to be insulted but said, “true Lord but even the little dogs eat from the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Jesus said, “woman great is your faith,” as he said about the centurion. Can this be us? I know it can be.
Father,
Thank you for this study, thank you for stretching us, making us face our fears and our lack of understanding about You. Give us a clear vision to see You and discern truth from lies and use us to bring Your Presence to our world.
In Jesus name Amen,
Arthur
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