Steadfast Hope

These are some of my favorite words in all of the Bible, Lamentations 3:21-24:

“Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! I say, “The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in him.”

Jeremiah, in the pit of despair, has hope because he can call to mind the Lord’s faithful love. That faithful love keeps us for perishing. It kept God from totally destroying Israel or giving up on them. That unending mercy would send His very own Son to the cross to die for the sins of the entire world.

The even better news? Those mercies are new every morning. Every single morning we wake up with a new supply of mercy. Have you ever thought about that? Did you ever think one day, “Well, I’ve used up all of God’s mercy today. There’s none left.” Nope. It’s new every morning. You get up in the morning with the amount of mercy you will need for that day. What other god would do that? None of them. Only our merciful, faithful God.
 

Jeremiah goes on to say, “The Lord is my portion.” What does that mean? The Lord is his inheritance, his lot. Years ago when we lost our first child, these verses were so healing to me. However, I kept waiting on the Lord to reward me with a child. I thought that I had suffered quite enough, so I was somehow deserving of something good. I was not, of course. In the midst of a Beth Moore study on the Patriarchs in Genesis, Genesis 15:1 hit me in the face, and I pretty much got over that. The Lord told Abram, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” There is no other reward needed. Jesus is the reward. Why would we need anything else? We are not deserving of any kind of award or reward. As the old hymn says:
 
Jesus is all the world to me
My life, my joy, my all
He is my strength from day to day
Without Him I would fall
When I am sad, to Him I go
No other one could cheer me so
When I am sad, He makes me glad
He’s my Friend
 
That’s your reward, friend. That Jesus. Therefore, Jeremiah says, “I will put my hope in him.”
 
So what does it mean to hope? In the Hebrew, it means “to wait, to be patient, stay, tarry, trust, wait.” We tend not to be good at these things. I know I’m not. But a hope in God is a hope in a sure thing. It’s not a gamble. It’s not a wish. It’s not buying a product and believing it will change your life. It’s not watching a news story and feeling a warm fuzzy feeling after seeing it. We have a hope that the writer of Hebrews says, “is an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” This hope cannot slip. It will not break down. It is not dependent on what’s going on in the world. It’s not dependent on how we feel. This hope is a set in stone, sure thing. Do you want to place your bets on anything? Place them on this hope that we have in Jesus. Do you want a rock to stand on in these shaky times? Stand on Jesus. Do you need a promise that will come to pass? All God’s promises are yes and amen in Christ Jesus! So do you need a steadfast hope after 2020 when everything has fallen apart and 2021 ain’t looking much better? There is only one place to find it. It’s found in Jesus. Put your hope in God for He is faithful, and His hope is a steadfast hope!