This Week’s Experience – 4/26/2020

Message notes

I have suffered much because God was angry. He chased me into a dark place, where no light could enter. I am the only one he punishes over and over again, without ever stopping.  He has made me old and has broken my bones. He has built forts against me and surrounded me with anguish and distress. He buried me in dark places, like those long dead. He has walled me in; I cannot escape; he has fastened me with heavy chains. And though I cry and shout, he will not hear my prayers!

God put big rocks in my way and made me follow a crooked path. God was like a bear or a lion waiting in ambush for me. He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces, leaving me helpless and devastated. He has drawn his bow and made me the target for his arrows. He shot his arrows deep into my heart.

My own people laugh at me. All day long they sing their mocking songs. He has filled me with bitterness and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink. He has made me chew on gravel. He has rolled me in the dust. Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is. I cry out, “My splendor is gone! Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost!” The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.  I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.

-Lamentations 3:1-20

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Deep in my heart I say, “The Lord is all I need; I can depend on him!”  For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.

-Lamentations 3:21-24; 31-33

1. When I am depressed, I must of God.

2. In the midst of the pain, I must God may be trying to me.

It is good to wait patiently for the Lord to save us. When we are young, it is good to struggle hard and to sit silently alone, if this is what the Lord intends. Being rubbed in the dirt can teach us a lesson;  we can also learn from insults and hard knocks.

-Lamentations 3:26-30

3.  I must remind myself that and that God will be there to greet me.

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Deep in my heart I say, “The Lord is all I need; I can depend on him!”

-Lamentations 3:21-24

LIFE APPLICATION
To discuss during the week with your family or Life Group

1.  Have you ever gone all the way from discouraged to despair to depression? What caused it? How did you get out of it?

2.  Which of today’s 3 main points did you most need to hear?  Why?

3.  How has this message given you hope in light of our current pandemic and time of quarantine? 

4.  What is your next step as a result of this message?