Anyone who has battled depression knows the feeling of “terror, not peace” described by Jeremiah. A few years ago I experienced a time in which I felt I had lost my calling to work in ministry. I felt that I couldn’t do anything right and that I had no reason to be working in ministry anymore. I felt lost, alone, and helpless. I was afraid.
As Jeremiah prophesies about Israel and Judah, he describes them in a very helpless situation. They are an enslaved people living a seemingly hopeless existence. The only thing that they know to do is to cry out in fear and in terror. Peace is not a companion that they know.
But the Lord doesn’t leave them there. In their time of trouble, God hears them, and he promises that he is with them and will deliver them.
God hears us when we cry out in terror and fear, just as he heard Israel and Judah. He hears us in our hopelessness. And God doesn’t leave us there.
No matter how alone you might feel, God is with you. No matter how afraid you might be, God has you in his hands. So when fear and terror overwhelm you, look for God. When peace is nowhere to be found and helplessness overwhelms you, God is there to calm your fears and deliver you from captivity.
Delivering God, fear overwhelms us so often, and peace can seem so far away. Bring us out of that place and into your arms today. Amen.
About the author — Bret Lamsma
Bret Lamsma is Director of Faith Formation at First Church in Denver, Colorado, and has served churches in Michigan and California in youth, emerging adult, inter-generational, and educational ministries. Bret and his wife, Julie, have two children, and he enjoys hiking, disc golfing, and cheering for the Chicago Cubs.
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