Lamentations 1:7 Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths.
Difficulty Brings Clarity
I’ve read stories of people who have fallen off the subway platform in Manhattan onto the tracks several feet below. In a couple of cases they fell just as a train was quickly approaching the station platform. In each story a stranger, at great risk to himself, has jumped off the platform to rescue the person down on the tracks.
A person who finds himself in calamity in the subway under Manhattan is in the heart of the financial capital of the world. But it doesn’t matter where he is if his life is in jeopardy: he just wants to live. He’s just grateful for a stranger who’s a true friend by helping in his moment of need.
Hard times have a way of clarifying what is really important in life and who is really a friend. The people of God in Jerusalem found this out the hard way. The book of Lamentations describes their suffering after the fall to Babylon. The first couple of verses show how their misery was compounded by the memory of what they once had.
Jerusalem discovered what was important to her. Verse 11 describes how the people gave their riches for food to eat. It’s amazing how different our perspective is when we stop to consider what is truly important. If some catastrophe occurred tomorrow, I think we’d be more grateful for the things we take for granted today: food, shelter, warmth. These things are all blessings, but we rarely think about them unless times are difficult.
Jerusalem also clearly saw who her friends really were. Verse 8 says that all who once honored her now despise her. Verse 29 says that Jerusalem called for her lovers, but they had deceived her. Verse 21 says, “There is none to comfort me.” A friend is not merely someone who celebrates with us in great and happy times, but someone who helps us when times aren’t so great.
Each of us would be keenly aware of what was important and who our friends are in a time of calamity. Why not consider and thank God for those things and those people today? Why not ask God to help you find a person in a dark spot and be that friend to them today?