Loud and Clear - Heard!

Lament Turns to Comfort and Joy – Our Trouble to Hope

A great tragedy that brings loss – of home, of loved ones – brings our lament, or simply our weeping, grieving, mourning, and nothing less than a moaning from the depths of our very soul.  Jeremiah lamented over his loss and the suffering in his life.  He in the pit of despair, was nonetheless encouraged by God’s love when he wrote Lamentations 3:19-24 NLT: 

The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.

I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.

Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!

His mercies never cease.

Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

I say to myself, "The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!"

 

As I witnessed yet another devastating tornado, I lamented over the loss, the emptiness that was poured upon friends and those who live in neighboring Moore.  I wept as I saw children being pulled from the rubble of their school; I stepped into a private place and moaned for each one’s breath taken from them.  My heart aches for friends and strangers this very evening.  But, my lament is a mere compassionate love, of no comparison to the wrenching of the heart that wrings out every drop of emotion that those in Moore are suffering this moment.

 

 

Our Lord “does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow” (Lam 3:33).  In fact, he is our deliverer in time of need.  And, now is a time of need.  Jesus promises that “You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy” (John 16:20b); the Lord does not strike out against his cherished, his beloved, but sends Christ’s Spirit to comfort us. Harm befell us by hate of one whose desire is to rob our joy.  He, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;” but, Jesus has come due to his desire for you “to have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).  I pray for us tonight, all who hurt, lament, that we can sing with joy the words of Paul (2 Cor 1:3-4):

 

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

Let my lament turn to comfort and joy, my trouble to hope,
Owen <><

What is Christian humility?

Is it to be debased, dishonored, shamed, unassuming, self-effacing – to be meekly quiet, thus, eradicating self, removing self from the world’s presence and influence – lowly and of no worth?  That’s our global society’s desired definition of humility and the place for Christlikeness.  To be a disciple of Christ, active in discipleship, is someone who is a “follower” or learner of Christ and His ways and truth.  We, in turn, share, teach others the same truth. 

 

How’s humility work? 

 

1^st:  We know that Christ was humble, so humble he faced an undeserving execution by beating and death on a cross.  That is the courage of humility (Phil 2: 3, 5-8), it is not an abandonment of faith in God through Christ Jesus.     

2^nd:  We know he was bold, he faced – indeed challenged – the leaders of established religion who had removed and replaced faith in God with what they could do to be godly – in their own way.  Jesus presented the truth of God’s salvation, the trump over religious rules of mankind. 

3^rd:  We know Jesus received who society had rejected, it is in humility that He accepted those who were:  children, women, or men – anyone who was:  with an unclean illness, morally corrupt, a despised tax collector, a thief on the cross, uneducated fisherman, slaves, rich, poor, and even a Roman Centurion – he cleansed them, healed them, received them as His own.  In humility they had approached him, and in humility Jesus received them.        

Humility isn’t giving up life, it is receiving life.  Humility is sharing Life with those who we normally don’t have in our life – those rejected by others (everyone is rejected by someone).   Humility is gentleness, kindness, acceptance, yet, it is the strength and courage to confess Christ.  Peter encourages us, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).

 Owen <><