40 Weeks of Your Life: Lamentations
09-30-2006
by Vicky Beeching

Lamentations is a heartbreaking book. It's the reflections of a destroyed nation on whom judgment and destruction has fallen. The book opens with the tear stained words "How lonely stands the city that was once full of people. Like a widow, who once was great among the nations. The princess has become a slave" (1:1).

Have you ever had a season in life where you stood back and took stock of your life and situation? Sometimes we do that out of choice, and other times we are forced to do it by circumstances that push us to stop and assess life. God had warned His people that judgment would come if they didn't change their ways and repent. After refusing to turn back to Him, the judgments fell on Israel and they were left in shock to stand back and figure out what had happened and why. They realized that their once happy and people-filled city was now desolate and destroyed. It made them ask God the hard questions of "why."

If you find yourself in a time of assessing your life and asking God hard questions of "why", know that He is in control, that He has not forgotten you, and that sometimes His ways are beyond our understanding. Perhaps he is using circumstances to shape and change your heart. He certainly does that with mine a lot. Many of my most painful and question-filled times have turned into the most precious refining fire, bringing great growth and change to my heart.

With Israel, their suffering and questions finally led them to repentance - the place God knew their hearts needed to be. They prayed these beautiful words: Let us search out and examine our ways and turn back to the Lord. Let us lift-up our hearts and hands to God in heaven" (3:40,41). The closing words of the book show that they truly had embraced that desire and had faith that things could be turned around: "Turn us back to You O Lord and we will be restored" (5:21).

Let's make sure we are living in that place of saying "let us search out and examine our ways" and make sure we are fully turned to God and right with Him. That is the place where true peace and restoration is found!