Part 1: Faith Under Fire
Day 5: A lament of Jeremiah
Jeremiah 8:18-22
The Last 50 years of Christian thought in America has allowed us to believe a kind of prosperity gospel that has shipwrecked the faith of many. There is an overt prosperity Gospel that will often invite people to believe that following God will mystically lead to great wealth, lack of sickness (health), and a general lack of obstacle in our lives. For the most part the orthodox families of evangelicals rejected that outright. Where we sometimes fail to be vigilant is when the wolf wears sheep clothing. When we tell people that following Jesus will logically lead to more wealth because of Christian principles and when we convince ourselves that the freedom of Christ will leave us happy all the time, we are wandering into a prosperity Gospel that is not so overt.
We should take an honest look at the men and women who served God in the Bible and see that there are not only seasons of physical hardship, but emotional as well. Today’s reading was a look at a lament by Jeremiah. Jeremiah does not put on a pretend smile and act like he is okay with where God has put him, he honestly calls out to God about his disappointment with his current status. “My joy is gone, my grief is upon me…I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.” It would serve us to observe the laments of the prophets and learn to use their language to bear our grief to God. Remember he is omnipotent; he can take it.
Prayer for the discouraged and downcast: O God, almighty and merciful, you heal the broken-hearted, and turn the sadness of the sorrowful to joy. Let your fatherly goodness be upon all whom you have made. Remember in pity all those who are this day destitute, homeless, elderly, infirm, or forgotten. Bless the multitude of your poor. Lift up those who are cast down. Mightily befriend innocent sufferers, and sanctify to them the endurance of their wrongs. Cheer with hope all who are discouraged and downcast, and by your heavenly grace preserve from falling those whose poverty tempts them to sin. Though they be troubled on every side, suffer them not to be distressed; though they are perplexed, save them from despair. Grant this, O Lord, for the love of him who for our sakes became poor, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
We should take an honest look at the men and women who served God in the Bible and see that there are not only seasons of physical hardship, but emotional as well. Today’s reading was a look at a lament by Jeremiah. Jeremiah does not put on a pretend smile and act like he is okay with where God has put him, he honestly calls out to God about his disappointment with his current status. “My joy is gone, my grief is upon me…I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.” It would serve us to observe the laments of the prophets and learn to use their language to bear our grief to God. Remember he is omnipotent; he can take it.
- What are sometimes in your life you remember real palatable grief? Has that time passed or are you still walking through it?
- Are you honest with God in your prayer time, do you let Him know when you experience sadness?
- Do you feel like certain aspects of Christian media and publishing portray a Gospel of better emotional and mental health over a Gospel of Eternal Life?
- What are some texts in the Bible you find comforting when you are in times of sadness? If you don’t have a verse in mind, do you have mentors that can help you find some?
Prayer for the discouraged and downcast: O God, almighty and merciful, you heal the broken-hearted, and turn the sadness of the sorrowful to joy. Let your fatherly goodness be upon all whom you have made. Remember in pity all those who are this day destitute, homeless, elderly, infirm, or forgotten. Bless the multitude of your poor. Lift up those who are cast down. Mightily befriend innocent sufferers, and sanctify to them the endurance of their wrongs. Cheer with hope all who are discouraged and downcast, and by your heavenly grace preserve from falling those whose poverty tempts them to sin. Though they be troubled on every side, suffer them not to be distressed; though they are perplexed, save them from despair. Grant this, O Lord, for the love of him who for our sakes became poor, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.