Main Thought
Have you ever seen a garden fill of weeds and thought, “Where did all of this come from?” They’re everywhere - yet most of us see them and understand that they don’t belong. Hopelessness can be like weeds; it’s everywhere, yet our hearts intuitively know that it doesn’t belong. Hopelessness ultimately comes from sin. (Sin is any word, thought, or deed that elevates some selfish desire at the expense of love for God or other people.) Hopelessness can emerge when sins are committed on a personal level or on a larger, social level. How can hope be renewed in spite of this? Hope is renewed when God restores us! The fires of difficulty, frustration, and even hopelessness can reveal actions or attitudes that don’t belong in us. If we allow God to remove these things and purify us, then we’re left as better versions of ourselves. We’re better positioned to move forward with hope, and to bring hope to the world around us.
Main Passages
Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord, she does not draw near to her God.
- Zephaniah 3:1-2
Therefore wait for me,” declares the Lord, “for the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them — all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger. “Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder.
- Zephaniah 3:8-9
11 “On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain.12 But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord, 13 those who are left in Israel; they shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue...”
- Zephaniah 3:11-13
Discussion Questions
What stands out to you in the Main Thought or Main Passages above?
Why do you think God has to restore us before our hope in Him can truly be renewed?
Think about a recent fire of difficulty, frustration, or hopelessness in your life. Did that fire reveal some sinful action or attitude in you that God wants to remove?