Series: Lessons for Life from 1 Thessalonians

Series: The Faithfulness Of God In Our Lives Message #3: God’s Faithfulness In Our Failures - November 21, 2010

1. Our failure brings heartache into our lives.

How deserted lies the city, once so full of people…Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are upon her cheeks… there is no one to comfort her…she finds no resting place…she is in bitter anguish…Jerusalem has sinned greatly…she herself groans…she did not consider her future…I weep and my eyes overflow with tears. No one is near to comfort me, no one to restore my spirit…I am in torment within, and in my heart I am disturbed, for I have been most rebellious…My groans are many and my heart is faint…All who pass my way…scoff and shake their heads…I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is… my soul is downcast within me…Joy has gone from our hearts…for we have sinned. Because of this our hearts are faint…our eyes grow dim. Lamentations 1:1-4, 8-9 16, 20, 22 2:15 3:17, 20, 5:15-17

How Does Our Sin Result In Heartache?

1. We rebelled against God.

2. We remember how life once was.

3. We regret what we did.

4. We ruin our lives.

5. We remain unhappy.

6. We are ridiculed by others.

Even in our sin, there is hope for relief from our pain and restoration of our lives.

2. God’s faithfulness brings hope into our lives.

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; I will wait on him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord…he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. Lamentations 3:21-32

We must call to mind the truth about God in the middle of our heartache.

As we call to mind the truth about God, we have hope for healing for our lives.

Our sin will never cause God to stop loving us.

Our sin will never cause our lives to be completely ruined.

God feels sorrow for us in our failures and wants to show us his love which will heal our hearts.

Every morning we wake up to a fresh supply of God’s faithfulness.

We come to realize the one we rebelled against is the one who restores us.

No matter what we have done we can begin walking with God.

God desires to bring good into our lives even though we have done wrong.

In God’s time and with his truth, healing will come as we wait upon and walk with him.