Have you ever felt completely beaten down by life? Family trouble, bills, job worries, health concerns… when these and other troubles all strike at once, it can feel like God is singling you out for misery. Is this how God operates?

The author of today’s Bible reading has a message for you: God’s saving help is coming.

Lamentations 3:19-33 (CJB)

Remember my utter misery,
the wormwood and the gall.
They are always on my mind;
this is why I am so depressed.

But in my mind I keep returning to something,
something that gives me hope —
that the grace of Adonai is not exhausted,
that his compassion has not ended.
[On the contrary,] they are new every morning!
How great your faithfulness!
“Adonai is all I have,” I say;
“therefore I will put my hope in him.

Adonai is good to those waiting for him,
to those who are seeking him out.
It is good to wait patiently
for the saving help of Adonai.

It is good for a man
to bear the yoke from his youth.
Let him sit alone in silence
when he has laid it on him.
Let him submit absolutely;
there may yet be hope.
Let him offer his cheek to the one who strikes it,
and receive his fill of insults.

For rejection by Adonai
does not last forever.
He may cause grief, but he will take pity,
in keeping with the greatness of his grace.
For he does not arbitrarily torment
or punish human beings.” —Lamentations 3:19-33 (CJB)

Questions to Ponder

1. “It is good to wait patiently” for God’s help, according to this passage. What could be good about waiting?
2. What is the “yoke from his youth” that this passage mentions? Why would it be good to sit by while other insult you?
3. What does it take to be able to say, amidst all of the setbacks and challenges of life, that you still put your hope in God? What needs to happen for you to experience the patient hope described here?