Message summary: Assurance in God’s faithfulness will keep your inner world from falling apart even though the outer world is.

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“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope” (Lamentations 3:21).

Yesterday we remembered the 23rd anniversary of 9/11 and the horrific devastation of that day here in America and in many ways the entire world. But whether impacted by local, national or even worldwide events, for those directly affected, it can be as if their world is falling apart.

We consider this thought as a prayer request came this week for a man devastated during a time of great anticipation. His wife, eight months pregnant, was involved in a traffic accident where a truck hit her from behind pushing her into another vehicle. She went into a coma resulting in the death of her first and long-awaited infant. The husband still had fleeting hope that his wife would be restored and return to him in due time. But a short time later she died as well leaving a husband in deep grief.

These kinds of experiences we’d rather not personalize. After all, such events happen to “someone else”… until they do happen to us.

But surely when this happens there’s a dizzying array of “what if” questions that streams through one's thoughts.

Many of you have had situations in life when your world seemed to be falling apart. Actually there have been a few times when I thought my world was falling apart, but in retrospect the problem was really a test of my faith and an opportunity for me to mature in my spiritual walk. But for those directly impacted by 9/11 or for people who lost loved ones such as the man whose wife and unborn child died, it would seem their world is truly falling apart. We learned this couple had wanted a baby for years and now it was about to come to pass or that's what they and others had expected.

Some of you reading this right now may be in the midst of a personal, earth shattering trial. For most it will not make the national news: the abandoned wife and children, the sober report from the doctor or the phone call, a house fire, “There’s been an accident…” We receive emails from our readers who share of such trials and we know of many through our various ministry roles.

Today we consider the heartfelt pain expressed to us recently from parents concerning their wayward daughter or in another case grandparents whose grandson committed suicide.

Any brief perspective in this devotional might seem trite for those in the midst of such circumstances. In some cases the best ministry one on one is a silent presence, but since this is a written text I can’t approach the subject in that way.

But thank God for the enduring assurance and hope that is found in the Holy Scriptures. As I ponder what to share in this regard it occurs to me that it’s the cumulative promises that will minister, although the Lord will often use one particular promise we especially personalize that enables us to keep on keeping on.

In the midst of deepening despair, as Jeremiah’s world was falling apart, he recalled a couple of life saving promises, “This I call to mind and therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning.” The promises of God’s steadfast, unending love, and His inexhaustible mercies transformed Jeremiah’s despair into hope. Today, some 2,600 years later, it will do so for us also. We do well to reflect on the standing promises and immutable attributes of God. “His oath, His covenant, His blood support me in the whelming flood. When all around, my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay!”

It is in this context that Jeremiah declared, “Great is Thy faithfulness!” Today, may God give each reader the grace to declare, especially in the midst of the most trying times, past, present or future, “Great is Thy faithfulness!" It will keep your inner world from falling apart even though the outer world is.

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13

"Great is Thy Fathfulness" Listen on YouTube  Maranatha Music