Day 1534

Climb out of the Pit of Despair!

Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, May 29.

Lamentations 3 is an expanded sixty-six-verse acrostic poem dealing with the universal topic of suffering. There will be suffering in this life, and, at times, it may feel like the end of the world, as Jeremiah expressed in verses 17-18, “My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness. So I say, ‘My strength has perished, and so has my hope from the Lord.’” Jeremiah was despondent over his circumstances, finding himself in the pit of despair. How do you climb out of such dark places?

Denial doesn’t help! You can’t whitewash despair; it’s real and no amount of spiritualizing your suffering will change that fact. You can’t ignore your emotions if you intend to live in the victory of Jesus Christ. The first step is naming that what you are going through is real. As you validate the reality of your situation, you then take the necessary second step, you invite God to join you wherever you are. From experience, I’ve learned that it’s best to do this without throwing yourself a pity party. Because, if you are anything like me, a pity party just digs the pit of despair deeper, catapulting you into a dark season of the soul. If you are there currently, I have good news for you, God specializes in meeting people at the bottom of the pits, so invite Him wherever you find yourself in the process. God showed up for Jeremiah, returning to him the gift of hope, as the prophet recorded in Lamentations 3:21-24, “This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I have hope in Him.’”

Seize the moment and climb out of the pit of despair by remembering the hope you have in Jesus Christ – “Call to Me and I will answer you” (Jeremiah 33:3).

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YOUTUBE:

If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.