This week we came to the end of our autumn series, 'From Empire to Exile'. In terms of dates we've reached 586 BC and the people of Judah have been exiled by the Babylonians, the city has been destroyed and so has the temple.
But even in this darkest hour there remained a glimmer of hope. There remained a core of people who continued to be faithful to God. One of those was Jeremiah - who had known his fair share of persecution under the reigns of the final four 'bad' kings of Judah. Jeremiah experienced the events of the exile first hand, and as the people are taken away from their homes as captives, as they are settled in a foreign land, as they wonder where their God is - Jeremiah continues to bring God's word to them.
The Old Testament book of Lamentations is a collection of five acrostic poems that move from despair at the current situation, through the acknowledgement that this is the punishment of God - punishment which is deserved, to hope in God for the future.
We all know what it is to live through tough times, but often it is in those tough times that we grow the most. It is then that our character develops - and God is more interested in our character than in our comfort. And yet through our experiences we know that we have a faithful and loving God - who is working out his purposes.
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