“I’m down, I’m really down, down on the ground, I’m down,” the Beatles sang. The Doors sang, “I’ve been down so long that it looks like up to me.” It reminds me of the author of Lamentations 3, who was so down that he was near giving up and death itself. “I am the man who has seen affliction, I am in darkness without any light. My flesh and skin waste away, my bones are broken; I am enveloped with bitterness and troubles. I dwell in darkness like the dead. I am walled in and cannot escape, my chains are heavy, no one answers my cries for help. My ways are blocked with stones, my paths are crooked. I am torn to pieces and desolate, I am the laughingstock of all peoples, they taunt me all day long. I am filled with bitterness. My teeth grind on gravel, I cower in the ashes; I have no peace and have forgotten what happiness is. My endurance has perished, and so has my hope from the Lord.” Maybe you are in this place today.
BUT the author found hope. In the next breath, he said, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. My soul says, ’The Lord is my portion, therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” We wait for Him while we’re down. We remember hope.
God’s promises are real and true. When your loved one dies with no warning, when there’s more month than money and economic troubles increase, you can remember His steadfast love isn’t finished. Great is His faithfulness and every day is a new lease on life; it’s not over yet. There is hope. The Lord is good – He is your portion of goodness in the hard times you face. You can turn to Him and wait and hope in your painful circumstances. You can say, “It is well with my soul.”
God is with you when you are down. He will not leave you nor forsake you. He is with His people always. He invites you when you’re down, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Be born again and have new life in Him. Renew your commitment to Him in a hard season. As Christmas approaches, it can be rough. As we turn to remember and worship and celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, we have hope. Run to the cross. As Paul wrote, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him.