Jeremiah 6:18-20 - My grief is beyond
healing; my heart is broken. Listen to
the weeping of my people; it can be heard all across the land. "Has the
LORD abandoned Jerusalem ?" the people ask. "Is her King
no longer there?" "Oh, why have they angered me with their carved
idols and worthless gods?" asks the LORD. "The harvest is finished, and the summer
is gone," the people cry, "yet we are not saved!"
Prophets like Jeremiah got the hard job of daily reminding
the people of God’s will. It was not a popular job….nor did the ones chosen see
much satisfaction from the people they spoke too. Most days they felt like Jeremiah…frustrated…hurt…broken. Most days their prayers to God were full of
tears…wondering why people would not listen to the message God had given them.
Jeremiah got it…he lived the chorus from HIllsong’s Hosanna…and
he hurt for the lack of understanding the people he was sent to try and save
had. He felt God’s presence every moment of his life…and saw what was coming
for those that he could not convince of God’s message. He hurt because he let
God heal his heart to the point that it could feel the pain of the world around
him.
I admit that most days I am still too focused on my own
needs to even ask God to send me to help anyone. My selfishness….and that crazy
hypocrisy I try so hard to shake out of my heart get in the way of me feeling
the hurt around me….seeing the suffering of others….asking God what resource he
gave me that might help them.
I sure needed a dose of Jeremiah’s pain this morning….so it
would help me remember that living in this world is not about me. It is about becoming more like Jesus…even to
the point of letting him break my heart for what broke his on that cross the
day he died for my sins. I might hear God’s voice telling me more of his plan
if my heart is broken like Jeremiah’s was.
The story did not end there folks. He rose victorious from a dark grave…and
commissioned all of his disciples…even the ones born in the 21st
century to go make disciples of everyone in the whole word. He commissioned us
to heal…and to serve others the way he modeled for us when he walked the Earth
so many years ago.
I am sure that my heart will break on that day that he
returns to claim us….if all my friends and loved ones are not claimed with me. I
will be the one crying…."The
harvest is finished, and the summer is gone, and yet my friends and family are
not saved!"…for it will be too late.
Sure…God will erase my sorrow…for I am told that there are no more tears
in Heaven….but for now…I need to maintain a broken heart…so I will work all the
more diligently for God while there is time.
Father….thank you for the reminder that I get a little too
complacent in my heart for the things that matter most to you. Forgive me once again for letting my heart
become a bit too hard…and becoming too selfish and self-centered. Wash me of that evil emotion and start the refining
process once again that will break my heart for what breaks yours….so I can
become a bold servant that you can use to bring in a better harvest…so you can
use me to help the others you have placed around me….so I can be stronger in my
faith. Amen.
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