|
|
I've been reading Lamentations and after the writer expresses over 2 chapters of grief and sorrow he says "My soul...bows down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope." He goes on for about twenty scriptures, after this verse, talking about the goodness of God. "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion...therefore I will hope in him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord... (Lam 3:22-26)
Wow! The revelation of God's great mercy and love came after his soul bowed down within him. God often uses the hardest thing in life to get us to a place where we bow, like he did when exiling the Israelites in Lamentations. When life is totally out of our control and we have to rely on Him. When we find ourselves crushed and bowed over, God has the chance to remind us of whom we are and whom He is.
In Lamentations 3:40-41 it says, "Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts and hands, to the God of heaven." When we are bowed we see ourselves and the path we are on. We see that where our feet are taking us. It is a time of adjustments, a time to make changes in our character. It is a time to strip off pride and arrogance and to replace it with the robe of humility and a broken spirit. After we see our own weakness and take note that we are not strong enough (and never will be strong enough) to be independent of God, we then lift our "hearts and hands (as in surrender) to the God of heaven."
It is at this point, seeing ourselves as what we truly are--totally dependent on God--that we cry out to God. "I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit: you heard my plea, "Do not close your ear to my cry for help!"" (Lam. 3:55-56) We see ourselves in the hole we have dug ourselves into and then seeing we can't get out call on God. And how does God answer this plea? In the next verse it says, "You came near when I called on you; you said, "Do not fear!"" (Lam. 3:57)
We see who God is. Even though we got ourselves into the mess, He comes and pulls us out. He lets us feel the weight of our decisions so we learn from our holes we've dug and have a chance to turn from our arrogant independence. When we have bowed our spirit within us we have a chance to see our undeniable need for daily renewal and constant connection with God. We see that His mercy is new every day, His steadfast love never ceases, and His faithfulness is great. We cry out to Him and He responds, "Do not fear!" And then as the writer of Lamentations cries in verse 3:58, "You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life."
There are no testimonies without tests. Embrace the cross and a resurrection is sure to follow. When we discover the load of life is to heavy, we must remind ourselves that we are the humans and He is the God. If we humble ourselves and cry out to Him, we will discover that He will never deny our plea for help. He will rescue us every time!
| | |
|
Battle Cry and Acquire the Fire! It's all consuming right now. What a powerful, humbling time it is in my life. It never fails, every year in preparation for speaking to tens of thousands of teens at these events, the amazing highs and crushing lows the Lord brings me through. It's hours of preparation--mentally and spiritually. It's amazing to feel the Potter's hand shaping me to be used for the upcoming year of events. It's always a bit painful, but the end result is worth it. This year has been particularly hard (for more details read Casey's xanga). The fruit is always worth the fight. I am thankful that Jesus is in my boat--during this years storm!
Pre-production for the ATF, in the SAC building, at Garden Valley.
Some of the awsome cast for this years ATF drama (they hadn't slept for days; yet, they were all so happy--maybe, one would even say, delerious).
Mitch, being Mitch.
 | | |
| My wife Casey and me at her Birthday party.
 | | |
|
