Christians Have Hope in Suffering

Jeremiah laments the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. God had lifted his hand of protection and allowed this destruction because the people were not obeying God and were worshiping false Gods. The principles Jeremiah applies to comfort the believers also apply to us when God allows us to suffer the temporal consequences of our sin. Even if the consequences are well deserved we can still trust that God is full of grace, and that means we still have hope and our burden will not last forever. We are still saved in Christ so we will not suffer the eternal consequences for our sin. Therefore, we know that we are receiving training from the LORD so that we do not fall into the same sin again, and God takes no pleasure in seeing us suffer through our discipline.