“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.” Lamentations 3:19-23

Today we are going to explore the first part of this passage; all about despair, but don’t worry I won’t leave you there because next time will be all about the hope. I believe in order to truly appreciate the hope we have, we must first sit in the reality of our hopelessness apart from Christ.

There have been many times over this past year that I have found myself in a place of feeling hopeless. Each time this happened I realized it was because my focus had been taken off the One who gives us hope: Christ. The author of Lamentations writes “and my soul is downcast within me.” I can so relate to those words. I can physically feel the weight of a downcast soul. It is such a painful thing to be faced with. Can you think of a time when you experienced this yourself? It feels pretty hopeless, doesn’t it?

Of course being the research nerd I that I am, I decided to look up the definition of “downcast” for a little more insight. I found three meanings, two of which are adjectives to describe either a way a person is looking or feeling and one as a noun: a shaft dug in a mine for extra ventilation. I realize here in Lamentations downcast is clearly being used as an adjective to describe the udder despair within the soul; but I couldn’t help but see something more within the use of downcast as a noun.

A shaft dug in a mine for extra ventilation. This shaft would allow for more airflow, and make it possible to have life exist within the shaft. It makes it possible for the miner to continue to work. This made me think of how God uses the hard times to breathe new life into our hearts, if we will let him. Just as the miner digs the extra shaft, God uses the downcast to give us extra ventilation. Obviously digging a downcast is hard work, but it will allow for the mining to continue and be fruitful. It is a short term pain for a long term gain essentially. Think of the trials in life as a downcast. At first it seems a situation of despair and hopelessness, but ultimately it is what God will use to restore us and strengthen our faith in Him.

Often times the most beautiful transformation happens when we are in the midst of  utter despair. When we are going through a trial and feel downcast, maybe in the future we can remember this idea of what the downcast can do. That it is for our good, even if we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel quite yet.

I will leave you with this quote from Corrie Ten Boom to chew on as you ponder over the lamenting that has happened today in this excerpt from Lamentaitons:

“If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed.

If you look within, you’ll be depressed.

If you look at God you’ll be at rest.”

– Corrie Ten Boom

For more insight on the book of Lamentations check out this resource here written by Chuck Swindoll.