Hope for the Hopeless

 I have no idea why you would go to hell in a handbasket. I could Google that but I’m pretty sure this is one of those old sayings that is has lost its context but kept its meaning. There have been periods of time in history where everything has gone to hell in a handbasket and one of those is recorded in the Old Testament. It comes from the prophet Jeremiah in the book of Lamentations.

At that time, Jeremiah clearly saw the bad choices of the Israelites and preached for them to stop their idol worship, turn to God and repent. Imagine how those prophets who kept warning the Israelites felt when all their pleas fell on deaf ears. They witnessed it as people ignored their warnings and continued depending on everything but God to deliver them. They watched the inevitable results of bad choices unfold around them. Read Lamentations 1-2 for details. But be warned, it is not PG rated! To summarize it, Jerusalem was defeated and many survivors were carried off to exile. That was surely “hell in a handbasket”.

The natural human thought process at that point would be to dwell on the injustices. They would roll around and around in their minds without any effort, replaying the scene time and time again. But somehow, out of this devastation and hopelessness, some the most hopeful words of the Bible are written down. According to Jeremiah, he called them to mind. That must have taken effort and a Higher Power to think about the faithfulness of God in those horrible circumstances. But he did it.

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And here are Jeremiah’s beautiful words:

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Lamentations 3:19-26 NIV

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I find that I remember scripture so much better when it is set to music. Here is a song inspired by this passage. Listen and you can hear Jeremiah’s words ring through.

So to defeat depression over things going awry, we have instructions from the Prophet Jeremiah. Call these words to mind. Repeat them. Sing this song loudly even if you can’t sing anything like CeCe or Carrie. Great is thy faithfulness oh God, my Father!

The Good Book

 Psalm 119:105 NIV

[105] Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

One thing that I have been struggling with lately is the pull of reading good Bible-based books in the place of reading the Bible itself. There are so many wonderful scripture inspired books being written right now. I get excited about them and want to spend some of my quiet time reading them instead of going straight to the scripture.  

However, in these faithful book studies, the authors point out that the true source is the Bible and the Holy Spirit speaking to me through it. All other words, from Billy Graham or C.S. Lewis or Henri Nouwen or Martin Luther King or John Wesley, pale in comparison to the words of the Bible itself applied to an open heart by our Holy Spirit. 

Does this mean we should toss the words of C.S. Lewis and the gang? Oh no! One caveat for those books about the scripture is that they can be used as a tool to lead us to the scripture itself. This is why we should continue to read them. But we should be careful that we don’t allot all our precious time to them, disregarding the reading of the Bible itself. We should prioritize and value the Bible above the others.  It is like baseball.  It is good to learn how to steal bases or what to do in a squeeze play.  But it is worthless if you don’t know how to throw, catch and hit the ball. The Bible teaches our heart the basics. 

Hebrews 4:12 NIV
[12] For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

But what if I don’t understand the Bible? How can I read it?  Remember that the Holy Spirit is given to each of us when we give our hearts to God. He is an interpreter. Pray for his guidance and trust that He will show you what you need to find. Don’t compare yourself to others. Look to God. Trust the Holy Spirit and learn from the words of Jesus.  

When I get more excited about reading a book about the Bible than I do about the Bible itself, I have to review the amazing journey the words of the scripture have made throughout history. This reminds me of how God has protected his Word through wars, plagues, fire, flood and decay.  I have to remind myself that the very words I am reading have gone through a miraculous journey of time. I have to remind myself of the fairly recent amazing discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls which verified, magnified and reinforced the truth of the scripture handed down through the ages. I have to see that no other book has endured the test of time like our Holy scripture.  And I have to realize the privilege I have to read them myself. 

Part of Dead Sea Scroll 28a from Qumran Cave 1. The Jordan Museum, Amman.jpg
From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository

2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV
[16] All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, [17] so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

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