Five Things to Remember That Will Give You Hope in Your Suffering

by Josh Parsons
| Time: 19 Minutes

When you’re in the epicenter of anguish and the throes of pain, when you’re looking affliction right in the face, what can you do that will help you?

In the book of Lamentations, through the words and experience of the prophet Jeremiah, God gives you five things to remember that will give you hope when your suffering persists.

Before we get to that, let’s get acquainted with Jeremiah and his experience, so we can see why he is such a fitting person to learn from in our sorrows.

Who Was Jeremiah?

Jeremiah was a prophet of the Old Testament, which meant that his job was to tell God’s people whatever God said.

He served as a prophet in some very tumultuous times. Over the 40 years he served as God’s messenger, he witnessed significant shifts in global powers, a revolving door of good and bad leaders, and widespread resistance to God and his Word. This means he saw some hard things and had a hard job.

But by far the most catastrophic event that Jeremiah witnessed was the destruction of his own city, Jerusalem. For many years, Jeremiah told God’s people that if they refused to repent of their sins and turn in faith to God, God would bring punishment on them (Jeremiah 5-6). And God did.

Beginning in the year 598, the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, besieged Jerusalem, eventually took the city, destroyed God’s temple, and deported God’s people. And the book of Lamentations—which is a sort of follow-up to the book of Jeremiah—is the record and lament of that happening (Lamentations 1:21).

In chapters 1-2, the author (who most scholars believe was Jeremiah) writes as someone who watched it all unfold. But then in chapter 3, he switches perspective. He moves from describing the destruction of Jerusalem to describing his own anguish.

Look at chapter 3 and verse 1. He says, “I am the man who has seen affliction.” In other words, he has not just witnessed sorrow and suffering; he has experienced it. In this chapter, he lists out in vivid detail the various afflictions he’s seen.

Jeremiah’s Suffering

His Health Is Gone

He first mourns that his health is gone. How does he describe the state that he’s in? He says of God, “He has made my flesh and my skin waste away” (Lamentations 3:4 ESV). In other words, he is physically falling apart; his body is breaking down. He looks and feels like a man who is ready to drop into the grave. His health is gone.

His Heart Is Heavy

But it’s not just physical pain he has experienced. His heart is heavy too. “Remember my affliction and my wanderings,” he says to God, “the wormwood and the gall! My soul,” he says, “continually remembers it and is bowed down within me” (Lamentations 3:19-20 ESV).

So here, Jeremiah calls on God to see and remember his suffering. Why? Because that’s all Jeremiah sees and it’s all he remembers. In other words, Jeremiah suffers emotionally.

His Way Is Barred

His health is gone. His heart is heavy. And Jeremiah tells us next that his way is barred. Look at what Jeremiah says: “He [God] has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy” (Lamentations 3:7 ESV).

So the afflictions Jeremiah has seen are afflictions from which he cannot break free. No matter how hard he claws for brighter days, his way is cut off and there’s nowhere else to go (Lamentations 3:9).

His Friends Have Abandoned Him

Alongside all this, all his friends have vanished. Jeremiah says, “I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the object of their taunts all day long” (Lamentations 3:14 ESV).

No one stands with Jeremiah. Everyone is against him. They laugh at his pain and mock his misfortune. He is alone and abandoned by everyone all the time.

His Home Is Destroyed

But remember the context in which Jeremiah is writing. The book of Lamentations is a lament over the ruin of Jerusalem, which means that he’s a man whose own home has been destroyed. He’s a man grieving the loss of his city, his family, and the familiarity and security he once knew.

He Feels Like God Is Against Him

Jeremiah has lost everything. His world has been completely turned upside down. But what has grieved him most in all these things is that it feels like God himself is against him. In chapter 3 there is a constant reference to someone else: “He has driven and brought me into darkness,” Jeremiah says. “He has besieged and enveloped me.” He also says, “He has made me desolate” (Lamentations 3:2, 5, 11).

Who is Jeremiah talking about? He’s talking about God.

Amid his afflictions, it feels like God is the one who’s brought them all about. “He’s torn me to pieces…he’s made me his target…he’s filled me with bitterness and fed me wormwood…he’s given me and ashes for clothing” (Lamentations 3:11, 12-13, 15). In fact, he outright proclaims, “The Lord has become like an enemy” (Lamentations 2:5).

That’s what life feels like to Jeremiah.

“I am the man who has seen affliction,” Jeremiah announces. His health is gone. His heart is heavy. His way is barred. His friends have vanished. His home has been destroyed. And he feels like God is against him.

His Hope Is Gone

And on account of all that, his hope feels dead. Listen to what Jeremiah reveals to us about himself: “My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, ‘My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord’” (Lamentations 3:17-18 ESV).

Jeremiah, the writer of Lamentations, is a man who has seen significant affliction and, consequently, his hope is gone.

What to Do When You’re in Pain

And I wonder if you can relate, if you can say along with Jeremiah, “I’ve seen affliction, too.”

Maybe your health is gone—your body isn’t working correctly. Maybe your heart is heavy. Your mind is a dark cloud. Maybe you feel trapped and cut off from everything good. Maybe you feel isolated and alone with no one to understand. Maybe you have had your world turned upside down by some decision or situation. Or maybe you feel far from God, like he has set himself against you.

Whatever your affliction may be, you feel like your hope has perished or it has got one foot in the grave. Now the question is: What should you do when you find yourself in that place?

Here we ask again, when you’re in the epicenter of anguish and the throes of pain, when you’re looking affliction right in the face, what can you do that will help you?

Our passage gives us an answer. What Lamentations 3 tells us to do is simple—think.

And that is exactly what Jeremiah does.

Jeremiah’s hope has perished, and his soul is bowed down. He is the man who has seen affliction. So, what does he do? He thinks. “This,” he says, “I call to mind, and [look at this!] therefore I have hope” (Lamentations 3:21). In other words, he remembers something. He recalls something. He thinks about something. He brings something to mind. And when he does, though his afflictions remain, his hope is rekindled.

Five Things to Remember That Will Give You Hope When You Are Suffering

And what was the thing that he called to mind that restored his hope? In Lamentations 3, we have from Jeremiah’s own testimony, five things to recall that will give you hope when your afflictions won’t go away.

1. Remember God’s Love

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (Lamentations 3:22 ESV)

Jeremiah is in darkness, but he fixes his eye on this shaft of light: “God loves me. And he will never stop loving me.” And that sets his feet on sturdy ground. It gives him hope.

I think there’s a reason why this is the first thing Jeremiah calls to mind. Think about it. What is often our first thought when something bad happens to us? We look at our unanswered prayers, our heartbreaking losses, our pressures and failures and sorrows and pain, and we think, “God must not love me. If he did love me, this wouldn’t be happening.”

Have you had that thought before? Hardships have a way of making us question God’s affection. We see them as evidence of God’s anger—that he is punishing us for something we must have done wrong. Or we see hardships as evidence of God’s indifference—that he doesn’t care enough to provide what’s good or to prevent what hurts.

What our passage in Lamentations 3 tells us is that God’s unending love for us is, in fact, the first thing we should remember. The first thing to call to mind is that “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (ESV).

Here is the truth, Christian: God’s love for you isn’t anything like the circumstances of your life. It doesn’t dip or wane. It has no ebb and flow. And it is never up one day and down another. His love is steadfast, and it never ceases. If you have put your trust in Jesus Christ and belong to him by faith, then God loves you right on through your pressures, failures, sorrows, and pains.

This is what the Bible calls you to remember when you’re stressed and anxious and afraid; tired, heartbroken, and overwhelmed; angry, lonely, and at a loss. Even amid these real feelings, God has not pulled away from you.

It may look like he has. It may feel like he has. But in those times, you must do as Jeremiah did—you must yank this truth back into your brain. You must fix it in your mind until you believe it in your heart: the love of God for you lives and will not run out.

If you lose sight of this, you will have no hope. But if in your affliction, you call this to mind—if you remember that bound by faith to Jesus, God will never stop loving you—hope will come. It won’t change your situation. But it will lift your heart and give you hope.

So, when you’re in a hard place, do what Jeremiah did—remember God’s great love for you.

But don’t stop there.

2. Remember God’s Mercy

“His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV)

Jeremiah recalls this precious truth: “His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22- 23).

Now in the original language of Lamentations, the word used for “mercy” comes from the word for “womb.” It’s a word that conveys deep affection, something like the tender compassion of a mother for her child.

That’s what Jeremiah remembers about God, what he calls to mind, and what therefore gives him hope—that God is not uncaring. God is not cold. He is gentle. And he is kind. Seeing the plights of his people, he is filled with compassion, and he showers them with mercy.

But notice the description that Jeremiah gives here. It’s not just that God’s mercies exist. And it’s not only that they never run out. He says that they are “new every morning.” That’s a beautiful phrase. It’s a striking phrase, especially when you consider what Jeremiah was going through when he wrote it.

I can imagine Jeremiah’s head hitting his pillow each evening. He’s beat down and exhausted by another cruel day, wondering how in the world he was going to make it through another one.

But here’s what he remembered—that though he felt as if he used up every ounce of God’s mercies, he would awake each morning to a fresh supply.

You may be in a place like him. You’re tired and weary, anxious and afraid, overwhelmed or in grief, discouraged, and without hope. Every day brings the same struggles. Every day brings the same sorrows, the same burdens, the same circumstances. Your health hasn’t changed. Your stress hasn’t gone away. Your heart is still heavy. Your desires are still unfulfilled.

But here’s what you can’t forget; here’s what will give you hope—the mercies of God are new every day for you. His kindness and compassion and help and strength were wrapped and waiting for you before you even got out of bed this morning.

You are not tasked with making it through today on your own strength. God has supplied everything you need for all that you’ll face.

So, in your affliction, remember God’s love. Remember God’s mercy.

3. Remember God’s Faithfulness

“Great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:23 ESV)

Look at what Jeremiah says next to God at the end of verse 23: “Great,” he says, “is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:23).

What Jeremiah is doing here is tearing his eyes away from what’s happening to him in the present and settling his mind on the past. He’s looking back on his life, back on the history of his people, back on all that God has done in the world throughout history, and he comes to a single conclusion. He says, “Great is your faithfulness.”

In his affliction, he remembers that God has carried him. He recognizes that God has never left him alone. He sees that God has strengthened and helped him in the darkest days of his life. He looks back and remembers that God has always kept his promises and always turned evil to good.

So, he says, “Great is your faithfulness.” And it is in remembering God’s faithfulness that he is filled with hope.

I don’t know about you, but when I’m face-to-face with some kind of hardship, it feels impossible to look at anything else. Have you felt that before? The hardship consumes your mind, grips your heart, and demands your attention. It holds you hostage so you can barely think about anything else.

But what Jeremiah models for us here is that when you’re in that place, it’s possible to think about something else—to pull your eyes away from what’s happening to you in the present and settle your mind on what God has done in the past.

Think for a minute, Christian, on all that God has done for you over the course of your life. What has he given you? How has he cared for you? In what ways has he blessed and provided for you?

He met you when you were really low. He carried you when you had nothing left. He sat with you when you felt alone. He listened to you when you have poured out your heart. He put strength in you through the opening of his Word.

There’s a whole host of ways in which God has helped you and richly blessed you over the course of your life.

But think too, Christian, on all that God has done in you. And think here especially about what he’s done in you through hard things. Look back on your life. When has your faith grown the most? And in what situations has God most forged your character? When has God most deeply imprinted the image of Jesus onto you? I know the answer for me—it’s when I’ve felt most like Jeremiah.

God has always been faithful to me. And if you belong to him by faith, he has always been faithful to you too.

And remembering that, thinking about that, calling that truth to mind in your darkest days, will lift your spirits and give you hope.

Remember God’s love. Remember God’s mercy. Remember God’s faithfulness. Fourth, when you feel weighed down and in despair…

4. Remember Your Possession

“‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’” (Lamentations 3:24 ESV)

Look at verse 24: “The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’” Now keep your eye there. Look at this verse carefully. Who belongs to whom? What does Jeremiah say? “The Lord is my portion.”

We rightly often talk about how God’s people belong to him through faith in his Son, Jesus. But this verse reveals something different. Here Jeremiah remembers—in the midst of all his loss and all his pain and all his suffering and all his sorrow—that God belongs to him.

The Lord is his portion.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, “What I have, what belongs to me, my portion, is sickness—my body just cannot get well.” Or “My portion is failure—I just cannot do anything right.” Or “My portion is discouragement and depression—I constantly live beneath a dark cloud.” Or “I have sorrow and grief.” Or “I am weak and fragile.” Or “What belongs most to me are loneliness and uncertainty.” “I asked for none of those things, but that’s what I have. That’s my portion.”

Jeremiah can relate to you. As we’ve seen here in Lamentations, he knew all kinds of hardships, too. But those things were not all he possessed. They weren’t the only things that belonged to him.

And the same is true for you. If you belong to Christ by faith, God himself is your portion. Standing above all the other things you’ve been given is the Lord. He belongs to you! Whatever else you have (or don’t have), you have him. And if you possess him—in whom is bound up everything good—then you have what Jeremiah has. You have hope. 

This is a stunning truth that’s easy to forget. If you belong to Jesus by faith, then God—and all his goodness and grace and promises and power—is your portion forever.

When you’re overwhelmed and anxious, filled with sorrow and wracked with grief, you must remember, you must call to mind, God’s love, mercy, faithfulness, and the truth that he is your possession.

But there’s one more thing that will furnish you with hope. In your dark days…

5. Remember God’s Son

“I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath” (Lamentations 3:1 ESV)

Read that again. What does it say? “I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath.” Now, Jeremiah was the one who wrote those words. But this was the exact experience of Jesus. You could have put those words right in his mouth.

Falsely accused, unfairly tried, beaten, whipped, scourged, and crucified, Jesus is the man who has seen affliction. He is the one who bore the rod of God’s wrath for us.

But look also at Lamentations 3:14: “I have become a laughingstock of all peoples, the objects of their taunts all day long” (ESV). Though Jeremiah recorded these words many years prior to Jesus, Jesus experienced the same—he could have said these very words. After his trial, Christ was insulted and spit on (Mark 15:19). And while hanging on the cross, he was mocked and people jeered at him (Matthew 27:41; Luke 23:36). He was an object of scorn and rejected by all (Isaiah 53:3).

But also consider Lamentations 3:8. “Though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer” (ESV). Again, that comes from the pen of Jeremiah. But that’s also an accurate portrayal of Christ on the cross. What did he say as he was hanging there in pain, dying, offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins? “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). Jesus cried for help, but for our sake on the cross, experienced the absence of God’s love.

This, friends, is where our true hope lies—in the one who the book of Lamentations is pushing us to see, the Son of God who suffered in our place.

Jesus knows exactly what it’s like to see affliction. But he doesn’t just understand suffering. Our ultimate hope lies in the fact that Jesus triumphed over suffering.

He died on a cross and then three days later, rose in victory from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). He is living in heaven right now and says to you, that if you follow him, if you have believed in him, then what is true of him will be true of you (Romans 6:3-5).

Bound by faith to Jesus, you will one day triumph over suffering, too (Romans 8). Your body will expire here, but you will wake up with him in heaven. And with him in the glory of heaven, you will know no more affliction. Christ, the Bible says, will wipe away all your tears. You will be with him, and you will know joy forever (Revelation 21:4).

May God Give You Hope Today

Friend, you may be in the throes of pain right now, and there may seem to be no end to your suffering. Like Jeremiah, maybe you have lost your health, or your heart is heavy. You see no way out of your suffering, and you feel alone in it. You may be unsettled and insecure, and worst of all, you have been believing that God is against you.

If this is you, may God’s words penned through his suffering servant Jeremiah in Lamentations 3 not only become very precious to you today, but also lead you to think today, to recall, to remember truth in such a way that you are filled with hope.

Remember God’s love for you—that it has not ceased. Remember that his mercies will come to you fresh every morning, that as he has been faithful to you in the past, he will be faithful to you today, and tomorrow. Remember your portion—that you belong to Jesus Christ, but that he also belongs to you by faith. And remember that Jesus has known pain just like you, so that he might one day deliver you from it.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13 ESV)

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What Is Lament?
It's okay to cry. God has welcomed everyone who trusts in Jesus to pour out their hearts to him. He wants us to take our pain to him, trusting that he cares and is ready to comfort us.