“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV
Too many today have lost their way and focus on the circumstances rather than the God of the universe. Turn your eyes upon the loving God!
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“the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”Jeremiah 31:3 ESV
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“Thus says the Lord God: “I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.””Ezekiel 17:22-24 ESV
In a hot, desert climate shade is vital. In this image all the birds enjoy that shade.
Couldn’t we, the church of Jesus (who seems to be that sprig that turns into a noble cedar), be that new tree who provides that shade for all the birds?
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“Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” (Psalms 33:20-22 ESV)
In today’s march* through the Psalms I was struck by the set of verses above.
No matter our context, when we’ve placed our hope in ANY human institution (sadly, this includes many ‘churches’) we are setting ourselves up for frustration, anger and anxiety.
I see these everywhere I go.
It is good and right to seek justice.
It is both our right (in many places) and our responsibility to call out oppression and wrong through peaceful protest.
But this must not be a response to fear or anxiety. If fear or anxiety about circumstances are driving your protest, your hope is misplaced.
Our hope is not in human institutions (governments, religions, etc.).
Consider some earlier verses from the same psalm.
“The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.” Psalms 33:16-17 ESV
A protester is not saved by his clear arguments or number of followers.
Be certain that your protests are founded on a righteous indignation, not on your emotional reaction to what you feel is wrong. Be certain that your protest is rooted not just in your ability to garner Bible verses to support your argument, but rooted in your growing relationship and understanding of the God of those Bible verses.
For: “The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.” (Psalms 33:13-15 ESV)
Protest away my friend, it is your duty!
But have no protest any day with or against any man, until you have had a conversation of significance with God.
When you do this, you can (as a Palestinian pastor counseled) love your enemies (a group that, tragically, seems to be rapidly growing in number).
Empty are are arguments of man, full is the counsel of God.
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http://bible.com/59/psa.33.13-15.esv
* I’m reading, praying and journaling a psalm a day as a supplement to riding the M’Cheyne train – check it out: http://bible.com/r/O
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Selections from one of the great chapters of the Bible, John 14… Jesus speaks hope…
“”Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
John 14:1, 6, 12, 15-17, 20, 23, 27 ESV
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Disappointment is in the air. Promises, whatever you think about them, have been made and are being followed through on. It is clear that some of them are not as well thought through as they might have been. This circumstance is in the back of my mind as I see the following in my morning reading:
“Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.”(John 13:36-38 ESV)
Peter is often referred to as rash. Speaking first and thinking second, or third…
Yet, when the time came, The Father chose to use Peter as spokesman, to embrace the gentile, to lead the infant church in its earliest days.
The question for us today as we consider our words – spoken, argued, posted or whatever – is … Are we considering our words?
Are we thinking, or just reacting because of fear or disappointment?
Are our reactions to our circumstances causing us to focus so much on earth that our reactions, words and attitudes are rash?
But, take heart, we can still turn to our Father and He will comfort, calm and empower us to be used for His glory.
Even justice, for its own sake, apart from giving God glory, will fade like grass.
Speak in such a way as to give God glory, let our words be worthy of the Holy Spirit, who lives in each follower of Jesus.
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