When Your World Crumbles
Author: Abby Robert
November 20, 2020
I lost a lot of confidence this year. I lost confidence when my plans for the year were canceled. I lost confidence when a family member passed away due to COVID-19. I lost confidence in our country’s unity. I lost confidence in my college decisions. Others have lost substantially more than I have, suffering hardships I cannot even imagine. It is hard to live life and witness everything going on around the world and maintain a confident heart.
During this uncertain, stressful, mournful time, it is easy to focus on the confidence we have lost, rather than focus on what we can have confidence in. Let us focus our confidence on something true, good, and beautiful: God’s Word. Lamentations 3:17-24 has been particularly comforting to me. Jeremiah writes:
My soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 so I say, “My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the Lord.”
19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the wormwood and the gall!
20 My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
When we are restless, tired of being anxious, and “bereft of peace,” let us have hope. When we are joyless, despairing, or suffering, let us have hope. When we feel alone, defeated, or confused, let us have hope. When we feel downhearted, forgotten, and unloved, let us have hope. Let us have hope because “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
Take a moment and reflect on these verses. Repeat them in your mind. Cherish every word. Feel your confidence replenished like a desert nourished by fresh rain. Remember the One in Whom you place your confidence, the one Person who will never break your trust, let you down, or change on you.
When we lose confidence, we must remind ourselves: “The Lord is my portion. Therefore I will have hope in him.” The Lord is enough for us. Do not place your confidence in yourself, your plans, or anyone else other than God. He alone is our confidence. Let us put our hope in Him.
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