God Suffers When We Suffer

Lamentations 2:24-30

I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord. And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline: Let them sit alone in silence beneath the Lord’s demands. Let them lie face down in the dust, for there may be hope at last. Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them and accept the insults of their enemies.

Lamentations is a hard book to read. We see a holy and loving God, in an instant, turn to a God of wrath and destruction of His own chosen people. Jeremiah writes these words that are hard to fathom. Jeremiah watches his own people die right in front of him. Women and children are starving and people are left in the streets either forgotten about or dead. Why would this happen to God’s chosen people?

We like to think God is kind and loving, which He is, but God is also going to judge righteously. When we decide to stop obeying Him, we face God’s judgment. There is no way around it. We might think we can have our fun and not think there will be consequences, but just like the Israelites, we too will face the same judgment if we don’t repent and turn to God.

Jeremiah, faced with everything you can think of, continued to stay faithful to God. He remembered the promise that God gave him. When we turn to God in our darkest hour, when we might have to stand alone for what we believe, when we see all our friends and family going in the wrong direction, what will you decide? Will you follow the crowd or will you follow God? The truth is, God suffers when we suffer. It does not please God to pour out His judgment on people, but because He is a holy and a just God, sin has to be punished.

In the end, Jeremiah hoped and believed that God would see him through those dark days. God will allow us to go through pain and suffering, but God will also give us provision when we stay close and focused on Him. Be a Jeremiah today! Be a man or a woman that will stay devoted to God’s call no matter what the cost. When life's struggles and disappointments come your way, don’t let it defeat you. Stay focused and live in God’s victory today!