S -
Jeremiah 30:5-11a (NIV): ""This is what the LORD says: " 'Cries
of fear are heard--terror, not peace.
Ask and see: Can a man bear
children? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like
a woman in labor, every face turned deathly pale? How awful that day will be!
None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be
saved out of it. "'In that day,' declares the LORD Almighty, 'I will break
the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will
foreigners enslave them. Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David
their king, whom I will raise up for them. "'So do not fear, O Jacob my
servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel,' declares the LORD. 'I will surely save
you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid. I am
with you and will save you,' declares the LORD."
O - The
circumstances are more than dire. Men in labor, terror not peace, and all of
this at the hand of the Lord because of Israel's stubborn refusal to do what
she knows to do. Yet, in the midst of
his wrath the Lord speaks of Israel's salvation, freedom and blessing. He identifies a David-king and tells them to
not fear and to not be dismayed because he will yet act on their behalf and
will save them. The guarantee for all this?
He, God Almighty, is with them. Clearly, the Lord's wrath or anger is not like
ours. He is holy, even in his
wrath; holy - not like us, not like me, not like this earth. When we make
his wrath like ours we do a great disservice to all. He really does delight in mercy, kindness and
justice on the earth.
A - Children
are all about presence. The presence of
a parent is the difference in everything…literally everything. Jesus calls me/us to be childlike in every
situation every day. While children
share the majority of feelings and expressions of their parents, they are not
identical. I do not want to be one who
assumes the Lord's wrath is like mine. It is not because he is not like me … I
am being called to become like him. I
want to turn into and be aware of and reliant on his presence. Today I am counting on him making me more
like him and promising to stop assuming he's like me.
P -
Father, Lord, Comforter,
Thank you for wanting us/me
to be your children. Thank you for
making us like you and for you not being like us. Thank you for mercy always triumphing over
judgment and for your delight in kindness, justice and mercy on the earth and
in us. Lord, I thank you for your
presence amidst all the challenges, trials, failures and fractures of life and
for working everything for good. Please
let me work with you today. Please help
me be childlike today … unto the life that is really life. I am asking for new wineskins, mulberry trees
in the ocean and for that which is too wonderful for me. Lord, thank you for being holy … and for
wanting me to become like you. I want
this too.
All my love,
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment