This I called to mind

And I said, "My strength and my hope Have perished from the LORD." Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall. My soul still remembers And sinks within me. This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.  – Jeremiah 3.18-21

Lamentations is called that for a reason. It might have been called 2 Jeremiah, but the title really reflects the book. Jeremiah wrote that whole long book of warning and imploring God’s people and begging them to return to Him, but they had ignored Him and now he writes ‘How lonely sits the city That was full of people! How like a widow is she, Who was great among the nations! The princess among the provinces Has become a slave! She weeps bitterly in the night, Her tears are on her cheeks; Among all her lovers She has none to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies.’

That is just the start of his lamenting. By the time he gets to chapter 3 he has lost hope.  ‘My strength and my hope have perished from the Lord. When I think about this I sink in despair.’

Something had to happen here. Jeremiah chose the right path and said ‘this I recall to mind.’

We will get into what he called to mind a little later. For now it is enough to look at the fact that Jeremiah chose to move along out of his despair and see another perspective.

There are times that we all need to do just that. There are times when we need to choose to recall that God is involved and get our eyes off of our circumstances. Jeremiah had to stop looking at what he could see and remember and focus on the things he could not see.

And that’s where we are today. When things get dark, and they will, we need to call back to mind the great Bible truths that we know and hold dear and turn our attention there.