Evangelicia Blog

Lamentations 3:18. "So I say 'Gone is my glory, and my expectation from the Lord.'"

Jeremiah says this after a lengthy list of many ways he is suffering at God's hands. He has "seen afflictions under the rod of God's wrath" (Lamentations 3:1) and finds himself "bereft of peace", having "forgotten what happiness is" (Lamentations 3:17). But in the verses which follow today's verse, Jeremiah remembers that "the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end." (Lamentations 3:22). He goes on, "The Lord is my portion ... therefore I will hope in him." (Lamentations 3:24).

Jeremiah seems a bit contradictory - first he says "gone is my glory, and my expectation from the Lord", but a few lines later he says he will hope in the Lord. This is not a contradiction, though, it is a change of outlook, a letting go of expectations, which opens the door for hope.

Jeremiah certainly suffered a lot, during which he apparently was holding on to expectations from the Lord. In his suffering, he thought he knew the way he should be being treated, and God was not living up to that. It is only when he releases those expectations entirely - "gone is ... my expectation from the Lord" - that his thinking begins to turn around and hope comes in. For seventeen verses (Lamentations 3:1-17), Jeremiah blames God for his sufferings. Almost every one of these verses begins with "He has" and ends with a terrible plight ("He has made my flesh and my skin waste away", " He has walled me about so that I cannot escape"). Everything is God's fault, because Jeremiah had expectations of how his life should be, and those expectations certainly did not include all of these sufferings.

However, after verse 18, in which Jeremiah releases his expectations, things immediately begin to turn around. He asks God to remember his afflictions, and he calls to mind God's steadfast love, which gives him hope. (Lamentations 3:19-22). Jeremiah goes on to say that "The Lord is good to those who wait for him ... It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." (Lamentations 3:25-26) " For ... though he causes grief, he will have compassion". (Lamentations 3:31-32). Gone now are all the "God did this and that to me" complaints.

Jeremiah's predicaments didn't change, however, his outlook did. He stopped expecting God to act the way he thought God should act, and began remembering what God is really like - full of steadfast love. If Jeremiah is suffering, then, there is some reason for it that he might not understand, but he can trust the One who is allowing it. This brings hope! Jeremiah knows God will not punish forever, He is not a tyrant, he is a loving God who wants what is best for Jeremiah. Everything changes when Jeremiah lets go of expectations and allows in hope.

I have to admit that I have gone through this same process, and I have learned that when I let go of my expectations, it actually makes my sufferings much easier to bear. It is the resentment of the suffering, the fight against it, that causes the most pain. When I accept my sufferings and remember that God would not be allowing them without reason, they become much more manageable. All I have to do is exactly what the Surrender Novena tells me to do - stop expecting God to adapt to my ideas, close the eyes of my soul, and put myself in His care. He will console me, liberate me, and guide me, even when He confers on me the grace of immolation, repentance, and love.

Jeremiah's predicaments didn't change, however, his outlook did. He stopped expecting God to act the way he thought God should act, and began remembering what God is really like - full of steadfast love. If Jeremiah is suffering, then, there is some reason for it that he might not understand, but he can trust the One who is allowing it. This brings hope! Jeremiah knows God will not punish forever, He is not a tyrant, he is a loving God who wants what is best for Jeremiah. Everything changes when Jeremiah lets go of expectations and allows in hope.

I have to admit that I have gone through this same process, and I have learned that when I let go of my expectations, it actually makes my sufferings much easier to bear. It is the resentment of the suffering, the fight against it, that causes the most pain. When I accept my sufferings and remember that God would not be allowing them without reason, they become much more manageable. All I have to do is exactly what the Surrender Novena tells me to do - stop expecting God to adapt to my ideas, close the eyes of my soul, and put myself in His care. He will console me, liberate me, and guide me, even when He confers on me the grace of immolation, repentance, and love.