Jeremiah wept for the people, wept for their sin, wept for the judgment they were undergoing. Everything was going badly. But even when everything was going wrong, something was still going right – The Lord was still compassionate. His presence was still with them.

It seems like bad things come in bunches, doesn’t it?

You have a car break down only to find that the air conditioner has gone out only to find that the water heater is leaking.

Or you get crossways in a relationship only to find that you are overburdened at work only to find that one of your children didn’t make the sports team.

And so on. Life happens, both good and bad, and at least from our perspective, it can seem that those things happen in streaks. That’s true at a personal level, but it’s also true when we look outside our own lives.

There are seasons in the world when it seems like there is a relative amount of peace, prosperity, well-being, and agreement. But then again, there are seasons when it seems like the hits just keep on coming.

Maybe they will. But then again, maybe they won’t. In either case, though, there will be seasons that will at least remind us of this one – times when it seems like circumstances just keep piling on. For the Christian, though, it’s a good and right thing to call to mind that no matter what or how much is going wrong, there are still some things going right. Hear the words of the prophet from the Old Testament:

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” (Lam. 3:19-24).

Surely everything was going wrong for Jeremiah.

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