Jeremiah Was Not Just a BullFrog

Jeremiah was a prophet during the Babylonian invasion of Isreal. God sent him to the King of Isreal to tell the Isrealites to repent of their sins and God would help the Isrealites to stop the Babylonians from taking over Jerusalem.

Of course, at that time Isreal was having great prosperity so they would not listen to Jeremiah and he became like a pariah in the community. He was a "nay sayer" and the king, officials and people of the land didn't like what he had to say. They threw him in a well to drown him, but the well only had mud in it. They left him there for days. Then he appealed to the king and the king placed him under house arrest in a garden area of the palace.

He continued to speak of repentance and was captured and released several times more. Jeremiah was understandably depressed and dejected. He felt that he failed God and that God let these horrible things happen to him. You can find his story in the book of Jeremiah in the bible.

The next book is called Lamentations. Nowhere is it written that Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamantations, but the writer speaks in first person and recalls all the things that Jeremiah went through, so it is probably safe to say that he wrote this book as well. He is lamenting the fall of Israel and her people. He is also lamenting his treatment by the king and the people of his country.

We studied this part on Sunday in bible class. It hit me hard because this is the way I've been feeling for the last week and yet as Jeremiah has hope for the future, so do I. I know that anything I go through here on earth is just temporary and my true home is in heaven with Jesus. These passages helped to bring me out of my "funk" and I hope that they will help you too if you are in need.

Please pay close attention to verse 33. This also tells us that God does not wish ill on His children, just as a parent wants the best for their child, so God wants the best for His creation. Also look closely at verses 21-24. These verses give me hope for the future.

I love you all and thank you for your kind words and continued support. You all have become like family to me and I thank God for blessing me with such wonderful people with which to share my life.

Lamentations 3:17-33

¹⁷ I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.

¹⁸ So I say, "My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the LORD."

¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.

²⁰ I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.

²¹ Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

²⁴ I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."

²⁵ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

²⁶ it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

²⁷ It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.

²⁸ Let him sit alone in silence,
for the LORD has laid it on him.

²⁹ Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.

³⁰ Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
and let him be filled with disgrace.

³¹ For men are not cast off
by the Lord forever.

³² Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.

³³ For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to the children of men.