Lamentations 3: 18-26
And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:
Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
Introduction:
Amongst the anticipating mothers was the one clutching to her husband, moaning I can’t wait any longer.
The convicted man in the row stared at the last tick awaiting to be escorted unto the chamber.
A man just cursed and punched the air for missing the bus on a black-iced pavement stop.
Pending blood result for patient urgently needing blood transfusion.
Trapped mob in the lift awaiting for the engineer to fix.
As a resuscitation officer trying to defy Grim Reaper in a deteriorating patients by buying time.
Waiting in line has been called a “timeless form of torture.” In the US alone, Americans spend roughly 37 billion hours each year waiting in line. And being actively involved in the waiting-infested healthcare system doubled its figure here in UK.
The time element is the umbilical cord of man’s existence in this depraved society and flawed but seamlessly contoured culture.
We all agreed and already well-acquainted with the time discovery and the its imminent impact of our lives as mortals, is just we just shrugged off the reality and the truth of its end or its outcome, the ultimate and the inevitable, END…DEATH!
Happy New Year everyone! and with an opening remarks such as THE END…or DEATH is such a grim and rudely inappropriate to greet you all especially in this newly refurbished hall we’ve finally and hoping for long term hire.
As you can see waiting is such a painful reality that we knew we will be engaged in but we deny and reject. We spent in luxurious amount from wide range of cosmetics, medications, clothings, lifestyles and in a certain recreational habits to defy the reality of age the precursor towards the end or exit of this time-obsessed habitat. Today’s service by God’s grace will invoke our moaning heart into three element : Revelation, Salvation, and Commission. whilst in this world through the life and ministry of one of the major prophets in the Old Testament, JEREMIAH and; culminate with Mary’s song rejoicing.
Sarai and Abram succumbed to the guise of time by speeding God’s promise through executing their own scheme by Hagar’s pregnancy and laughing at her own barrenness. David cant wait to become the anointed king, Psalm; Joseph waiting in prison for his purpose.
REVELATION:
Prophet JEREMIAH: “The Weeping Prophet”.
Young (inexperienced), abandoned (by his own family), mocked by society for his mainly damned and grim prophecies against his own people. Not taking seriously the promise and hope of restoration. The author of the book itself in the Old testament and recorded the elegies during and the destruction of Jerusalem leading to Babylon exile. “Jeremiad” french word coined in 1700s meaning long list of complaints and mournings.
The main drama of Jeremiah’s ministry was to tell his people we’re going to be doomed and will befell in Babylon captivity. exiled unto our country until the God will redeem and restore us. Again, how long??? ( not in the next days, months….remember , he had the prophesy for 40 years)….70 years the will be ruling.
How did God reveal Himself in Jeremiah?
Jeremiah 1:5 “ Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you.”
It’s fair to say thus that Faetal Jeremiah was called in for his vocation prior to his nirth or even conception. And God has orchestrated everything thereon.
God had revealed Himself prior to What does it mean to wait upon the Lord? In the scriptures, the word wait means to hope, to anticipate, and to trust. To hope and trust in the Lord requires faith, patience, humility, meekness, long-suffering, keeping the commandments, and enduring to the end.
SALVATION:
Let’s get Jeremiah into the petri-dish under our recent 2023-model microscope:
Point A-B, he wasn’t the ideal blockbuster Hollywood story or neither a fairy Tale-like character for he ended up a failure and defeated character needless to say his ending: likely stoned to death by his own people being feared in Egypt.
What happened in between his life? Seeing in between point A and B?
An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land: (Jeremiah 5:30)
And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness. They are all like Sodom to Me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.” (Jeremiah 23:14)
Recollection and reflection: conviction that leads to repentance.
A divine ministry. Through the series and turmoil and being tossed to the prison from his own people is but a foretaste of his lasting hope and joy. It is a great mystery in the mortal mind to endure such suffering. One holocaust survivor said
Just exactly like Job in particular. Sufferings of all degree and forms. Both cherishly endured and treasured. Rejoicing. Only differed in from the beginning of point A where the latter, has already a certain degree of hope and confidence as he said, “I know my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25-27).
To increase our trust. First and most foundationally, he uses waiting to increase our trust in him and loosen our perceived control. Waiting reminds us we’re at the mercy (literally) of God’s timing, and we have no power to change that. As humans, we crave control, yet waiting pulls that from our grasp. Waiting pries our fingers from the ledge and confronts us with an uncomfortable question: “Will we give up on ourselves and trust God wholly?”
To crucify our idols. Second, God uses waiting to crucify our idol of efficiency. We live in an accomplishment-driven culture where value is measured and marked by productivity. How much you get done defines your worth, and we can be guilty of making that an idol. But waiting destroys that. We can’t always maximize efficiency if we’re waiting on God—and that’s okay. Are we putting our worth in our plans and productivity, or in God (Galatians 6:9)?
As our eyes are taken off ourselves and our idols, waiting changes us. God uses waiting to make us more humble. As waiting reveals our spectacular lack of control, it exposes our weakness and vulnerability. God is in charge, and we are not. Therefore, we have no reason for pride or boasting. Instead, we should embrace our weakness in the form of humility and approach God with a proper view of ourselves (Psalm 8:3-4).
“God’s grace will help you persevere through the waiting, and will abound when you don’t wait well.”
Along with making us more humble, God uses waiting to make us more patient. I used to think I was a patient person, but waiting revealed just how impatient I was. I despise delayed gratification; I don’t want to be left wondering and guessing. I want what I want, and I want it now.
But waiting is like a seat belt that buckles me into being patient, a forced lesson in patience. I have no choice; I have to be patient. I can either ungratefully fight it or contentedly embrace it. Patience says we are faithfully trusting in the Lord’s timing, not our own: “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14).
we mortals are and were far more obsessed with the start and end; point A and B….vacuumated in between, void, nothingness. We much remembered Job as being blessed by God after his unsurmountable ordeal= Most of the prosperity gospel preacher babbling most. You are not being rewarded of being law-abider by doing good works. It is through grace of God through Lord jesus Christ. We’ve lost sight what’s happening in between, when in fact during the Jeremiah’s committant to God’s word for 40 years and nearinghis death he was full of sufferings but what it didnt gravitate him a minute and an iota for GOD bares them all for Him: “It is of] the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23[They are] new every morning: great [is] Thy faithfulness.”
24The LORD [is] my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
It is not a blockbuster holyywood movie neither a timeless Disney fairy tales.
COMMISSION:
Realizing why God makes us wait, and what he’s doing through the waiting, is the start of trusting him in this tension between waiting and preparation for the season ahead.
Then, as we wait we focus on living faithfully in the present. It’s easy to let waiting distract us or pressure us to false-start before God says, “Go,” but that’s not what we’re called to. God uses waiting to test, teach, and train us for what lies ahead. We need these periods to sanctify us. And by living faithfully in the midst of them, God will use these years to transform us.
That’s how he’s always worked for his people:
Abraham and Sarah waited for a son (so did Rachel and Hannah).
Joseph waited for a promotion.
Moses waited to lead the Israelites out of slavery.
Joshua waited for the Promised Land.
Ruth waited for a husband.
David waited to become king.
Elijah waited for rain.
Job waited for suffering to end.
Paul waited for release from prison.
In those times of waiting, these people were called to serve their families and those around them; learn about and listen expectantly to God; pray without ceasing; not grumble or complain; and fulfill the ordinary work God called them to. It wasn’t glamorous, showy, or especially exciting, but it was preparing them for what lay ahead.
In God’s wisdom, he knew Abraham and Sarah needed decades to learn that God was enough, that he deserves their trust. He knew Joseph needed years of languishing in prison and cycling through suffering to learn humility and forgiveness. He knew Moses needed 40 years as a country shepherd before he could shepherd God’s people, just like Joshua needed his 40 years assisting Moses to learn leadership and courage.
God knows what we need, and if he wants us to wait, it’s always for our good. Our calling is simply faithfulness.
And if we trust in him, we know that he will direct our steps and point us to our next destination. He will say, “Go,” when we need to go—but not before then. That is the lesson this “go-getter” is learning. I am waiting, and I am trusting, and I am changing, and ultimately I am growing more like Jesus.
Just as what Jesus has said to His disciples:
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20)
