(from Streams of Living Water for a Thirsty Soul)
“…thou art my hope in the day of evil.” Jeremiah 17:17
We are truly living in evil days. With the reports we read in the newspapers and hear on radio and TV, we wonder how the world can get much worse. It seems no one is safe anywhere anymore, and fear threatens to take hold of us.
Jeremiah’s words, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (17:9), seem all the more true of today and we sometimes are tempted to despair and wonder if it’s worth the effort that is put into programs to help people improve.
When we’re in the emotional wilderness, these feelings of hopelessness are sometimes magnified. The needs we see become overwhelming.
The world situation must have been that way back in Jeremiah’s day too. How was Jeremiah able to see God as his hope in a hard situation? He was able because he trusted God. Trust is the action part of hope, and hope is the feeling part of trust. When we trust, we hope. When we hope, we trust.
PRAYER: Lord God, help me not to despair when I see the evil around me, but to focus on You and put my hope in You.
Related verses: Psalm 31:24, 71:1-5, 112:7, 121:7; Jeremiah 17:7-8; Lamentations 3:26
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