In Lamentations 3, Jeremiah was nothing short of depressed. But instead of wallowing in it, he remembered God. When he began to turn his thoughts toward the goodness of God – in spite of the fact that he couldn’t see God’s goodness at the moment – he started to feel differently about the mess he was in. In fact in verse 18 of Lamentation 3, Jeremiah lets us know that he has lost all hope. And yet we see his hope return when he returns his thoughts toward God. We read,
Did you know that Jesus Christ has already secured your victory to overcome anything that Satan throws at you? He has. When you view your life through that lens, it takes the pressure off and frees you to walk confidently in the strength of the One who has already won. It even changes the way you talk. Instead of speaking in uncertainties, you can now talk with authority and hope. You can speak words of life.
Whenever I counsel someone who is struggling with emotional strongholds, I always want to check their hope-meter because when you have lost your hope, you have lost everything. Simply defined, hope is the belief that my tomorrow will be better than my today. David knew about the power of hope when life looks hopeless.
There is a myth in Christianity that I often hear people say. Maybe you have even said it yourself— “God will not put more on me than I can bear.” Maybe you’ve heard it. Maybe you’ve even said it. Some people even think it’s in the Bible. But let me debunk that myth right now with a look at the life of Paul. In 2 Corinthians, Paul wrote, “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction… that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life” (2 Corinthians 1:8).
The word testament means “covenant.” So when you read the New Testament, you are actually reading about the New Covenant. When Jesus was preparing to die on the cross, He shared a final meal with His disciples. It was the Passover meal, but Jesus gave it new significance (Luke 22:14-20). At that meal, He said, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood” (v. 20).