God Is Our Hope

Jim:

Lamentations 2:8-15
Verse 13 offers an interesting point. “What can I say for you, to what compare you, O daughter Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter Zion? For vast as the sea is your ruin; who can heal you?” The part that struck me is the question, “Who can heal you?” The answer, of course, is God. God can heal Jerusalem. But it is God who has caused ruin to befall the city. In fact, the destruction of the city is attributed directly to God: “The Lord determined to lay in ruins the wall of daughter Zion;… he did not withhold his hand from destroying…” (verse 6). So the question that verse 13 asks is really, “Now that God has enacted divine judgment upon Jerusalem, who is there who can rebuild the city?” Indeed, what hope Jerusalem has comes from God. So even as “rampart and wall lament”, God remains the only hope.

As I reflect on this passage I am mindful of the vast devastation in southern California caused by wildfires. Perhaps the destruction there, the burned houses and charred forests, the grieving families, give us some idea of what Jerusalem went through. Who can rebuild the homes and lives of southern California? Who can heal the devastation? God can, and God will.

1 Corinthians 15:51-58
Verse 58 says, “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immoveable, always excelling the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” This is an eloquent call to discipleship. Our work in the Lord is never in vain, our effort to do God’s will is never wasted. We are called out into the world where fires rage and where violence is so prevalent, and we may doubt our ability to effect meaningful change, but Paul reminds us that our work in the Lord is never pointless. Even our simplest acts of faithful obedience (or of “steadfast, immoveable” living) can be blessed by God to produce much good fruit.