Lamentations 3:20-22 (NKJV) 20 My soul still remembers And sinks within me. 21 This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. 22 Through the LORD’S mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.
Greetings and happy New Year. It is 2017. Each of us will greet the new year in a different way. Some will wave goodbye to 2016 and say good riddance as it has been a difficult year. Others will say 2016 was a good year and they only hope 2017 will be better. For me, 2016 was both difficult and blessed at the same time. Either way, are here! It is 2017 and God has something special for you this year.
Since I began as Pastor of Living Word Christian 29 years ago, I have always prayed for a theme for the year. The last 7 years, I have felt that the theme God gave was a word of the Lord for my ministry as well as our church. On February 24 of this year we will hand over the local responsibilities of the church to our son and daughter-in-law. I was praying as to whether I should continue seeking God for a yearly theme. I believe he did speak to me about 2017.
Last year my theme was taken from Mark chapter 9 concerning a man and his sick son. Jesus said to this man, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” As I focused and preached on that thought it changed my life and ministry. Anything really is possible if we believe. I spent most of my time in this space talking about God’s possibilities and how they provide us with possibilities for our lives that go beyond what is possible for us in the natural.
Each theme seems to flow from the last. If all things are possible was the theme for last year, what would God say for this year? He led me to the scripture above. This is an interesting chapter. If you read verses 1-20 you see that God’s people have once again fallen into sin and rebellion. The northern Kingdom, called Israel, had been taken into captivity some time before. Now the southern and more spiritual kingdom, Judah, has also been taken. Jerimiah has been carried by some of his people into Egypt where he will continue to minister to the remnant of Judah.
As he writes this book he is struck with the reality of his Judah’s condition. He does not blame God. He goes into great detail about what Judah’s has brought on their own heads at God’s hand. He starts in verse one by saying that he is “a man who has seen affliction by the rod of God’s wrath.” He knows that what has happened to Judah was because of their rebellion and sin. He goes on to list many things that none of us would desire for our lives. Jeremiah says that each affliction comes from God’s hand.
I do not believe that God actively brings evil into the life of his children. James tells us how these things really works.
James 1:13-17 (NKJV) 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Every good gift comes from God but sin opens the door to the bad things in life. God will not override our choice. We can repent and God immediately goes to work for us, but bad things do happen. The devil is always the source of evil but often we are the ones that open the door through sin and mistakes. That is the problem for Judah. Because of this, Jeremiah does not see how God will come to their rescue since it is their fault that they are in such terrible circumstances.
Last year I focused on the difference between the possibilities we can see and the possibilities that are available through the hand of God. When we are without hope in the natural, we can do what Abraham did and “hope against hope” or hope in something that is greater than what we can see. Here, Jeremiah believes that their sin has caused even the supernatural possibilities that come from God to be cut off. They have no basis to expect any good thing in either the natural or the supernatural. That is where we find Jeremiah as we come to verse 21.
In verse 20 his soul remembers the terrible things that have come upon them. In verse 21 it is as if something has dawned on him. He remembers another truth about the God of Judah. The first memory robbed him of hope. The second restored hope. What was it that Jeremiah remembered that restored hope in the face Judah’s condition?
Jeremiah remembered that God is a God of mercy! Young’s Literal Translation says it somewhat differently.
Lamentations 3:22 (YLT) 22 The kindnesses of Jehovah! For we have not been consumed, For not ended have His mercies.
In this version, it is as if Jeremiah realizes that with all the bad things that have happened in Judah, they are not consumed. Judah still exists. Jeremiah is still alive. If the trial they have brought upon themselves has not destroyed them, there is reason to hope. Jeremiah further understands why they have not been destroyed. It is because of God’s mercy. Since God has been merciful to see to it that they are not destroyed, Jeremiah can believe that the same mercy will provide a path to redemption.
One of the main ways the devil robs us of believing for God’s possibilities in our lives is to focus us on what we have done wrong. Sometimes these things are real. Judah had rebelled against God and their captivity was their own fault. Sometimes we sin. Sometimes we make mistakes and foolish choices. Those things can result in trouble for us. If that is the case, this truth should cause us to hope again just as it did Jeremiah. Even when we are at fault, God’s mercy will give us a way back.
More often the devil uses condemnation to convince us that we cannot expect God to move for us because of our past. What happened before salvation was washed in the blood of the lamb. It is irrelevant to your current situation. What we do wrong after salvation is washed away by that same blood and we receive cleansing as soon as we come to him in repentance (1 John 1:8-10.) Many things the devil accuses us of we never even did. He is a liar. If he is telling you that you are not worthy of God’s mercy that is a good indication that you are!
In either case, God’s mercy is greater than our failure. There are sometimes consequences in the natural that cannot be avoided. Judah went into captivity but God’s mercy kept them from being consumed. Since they were not consumed, they eventually returned to Judah and fulfilled their destiny to bring forth the Messiah of the world, Jesus.
One of the things I believe we need to walk in this year is the awareness that God’s mercy is there and that it does not run out. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. Grace is getting what we do not deserve. Mercy comes first.
If it is necessary, that we repent we should do so and as quickly as possible. If the devil is simply lying to us, we need to rebuke him and replace his lies with the truth of the Word. Either way, let 2017 be a year of mercy for you. God is not giving up on you! Do not give up on yourself. 2016 is over. What you did or did not do is over. You have not been consumed so his mercy is at work. Expect even more as this year continues!
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