--------------- 
OUR DAILY BREAD             Sat., Aug. 12, 1995   
--------------- 
 
READ: Lamentations 3:19-33 
 
                 
                 HOPE IN THE SAD TIMES 
 
       "It is good that one should hope and wait  
        quietly for the salvation of the Lord." 
 
                        -- Lamentations 3:26 
 
Sadness and sorrow are life's great equalizers.  They 
affect us all, in varying degrees. 
 
Sometimes entire countries suffer.  In 1994 we were 
horrified by the massive sorrow in Rwanda and Bosnia. 
And we are all touched by smaller-scale tragedies: 
accidents, illnesses, family breakups, financial woes. 
Regardless of our own optimistic tendencies, sorrow 
visits all of us. 
 
But there's another side to this.  No matter how  
tragic our lives may be, no matter if we are given 
to depression and despair rather than happiness and 
joy, we are never left hopeless. 
 
That's because life is not a string of accidental 
circumstances.  Life has a spiritual dimension that 
can always be buoyed by God's love, mercy and grace. 
 
Look, for example, at Lamentations 3.  Drenched as 
this passage is in the misery of the people of 
Jerusalem, there is hope.  Amid the details of 
wholesale slaughter and devastation as the city 
was overrun, the author inserted mankind's best 
hope for a reason to go on:  God's great love. 
To counter the affliction and sadness, the writer 
spoke of God's compassion, His faithfulness, His 
Goodness, and His salvation (vv. 22-26). 
 
It's remarkable!  No matter what we might be  
suffering, we can be sure that God will never 
leave us hopeless.   
 
                        -- J. David Branon 
 
    When trouble seeks to rob your very breath, 
    When tragedy hits hard and steals your days, 
   Recall that Christ endured the sting of death; 
    He gives us hope, and merits all our praise. 
 
                        -- Gustafson 
------------------------------------------ 
           THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 
------------------------------------------ 
  No one is hopeless whose hope is in God. 
------------------------------------------ 
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  Isaiah 49-51

=============================================================
Our Daily Bread, Copyright 1995, used by permission of Radio 
Bible Class, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49555, USA. ODB files are 
being archived at ICLnet by arrangement with Radio Bible 
Class. RBC is presently developing its own servers and we 
look forward to RBC's official presence here on the internet 
in the near future. Written permission to distribute must be
obtained from Radio Bible Class. RBC provides a variety of 
Bible resources, which are free of charge. RBC is not funded 
by any group or denomination, and support comes voluntarily 
from its Members and Friends. Write for more information, or 
call 1-800-598-7221.

Thanks to Ken Foster for establishing the email list from 
which this copy of Our Daily Bread originated. A subscription 
is also available from the "ODB List".

RBC publications are also available at The Gospel Communica-
tions Network: http://www.gospelcom.net/rbc/odb/.

- ICLnet
=============================================================


-------------------------------------------------------
file: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db950812.txt

.