Corona Devo 1831
Oh my goodness: are we going through it today?
Are we overwhelmed, or in-too-much-pain, or completely exhausted, or just can't keep up with life?
I was.
I was so tired. I was heavy. I was empty. I was in need of the Lord and the rejuvenation that only He and His Word can provide.
"Lord, please revive me", I wrote in my journal as I sat down to have pre-sunrise time alone with God. I knew that where-I-was was not where-I-wanted-to-be.
Lord, please revive me.
And, wouldn't you know it: God does.
He revives us (mind/body/spirit) with the Bible.
I was reading the Book of Lamentations, Chapter 3, and that chapter kicks off ugly: pretty much exactly the mood and att-ti-tude that I was feeling.
Do these verses meet anyone else right where they are at today?--
I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the Lord’s anger. (2) He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light.
(3) He has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long... (5) He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress. (6) He has buried me in a dark place, like those long dead. (7) He has walled me in, and I cannot escape. He has bound me in heavy chains.
(9) He has blocked my way with a high stone wall; he has made my road crooked.
(17) Peace has been stripped away, and I have forgotten what prosperity is. ~Lamentations 3:1-3, 5-7, 9, 17
~~~
These verses describe all of the "hard" that we walk through sometimes in our minds, in our hearts, in our faith. Life can be very hard or become very heavy from time to time.
Why it (hard stuff) happens, I'm sure I don't know. And this (Lamentations) Scripture-author blames God for the afflictions and anguish and distress, but we shouldn't.
We could blame God, because His wrath is what we deserve, (For the wages of sin is death... ~Romans 6:23) but that is not how our God works. He is not sitting up in Heaven with a scorching poker, awaiting reason to sear us. No, although we deserve consequence, He provides us with mercy and love (For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~Romans 6:23).
~~~
And as I sat searching for God, and depending on him, He was there.
"Lord, please revive me", I begged, and God's Word did.
Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this (22) The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. (23) Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
(24) I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” ~Lamentations 3:21-25
He's here, Sisters and Brothers in Christ. He's right here in our sorrow, our quandary, our exhaustion, our pit. He's right here, and He's good to us. He even tells us who He is good to, and why He is good to us (Hint: these are our instructions for life! These are our instructions for today.)
(25) The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. (26) So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.
(27) And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline: (28) Let them sit alone in silence beneath the Lord’s demands...
(31) For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever. (32) Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. (33) For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow. ~Lamentations 3:25-28, 31-33
In the Lord's "It is good" statements, He tells us what He's looking for in us and our lives. It's that simple...if we want to be revived by the Lord today:
Depend on Him and search for Him.
The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. ~Lamentations 3:25
~~~
If we want to be revived by the Lord today:
Wait quietly before Him and His Word. Through it, He will bring salvation (eternal and momentary/situational).
(26) So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord. ~Lamentations 3:26
~~~
If we want to be revived by the Lord today:
We have to understand and accept that it is work (we will bear a yoke) in serving Him.
(27) And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline... ~Lamentations 3:27
~~~
If we want to be revived by the Lord today:
Come alone and come often and come silently before the Lord and His Word and His demands:
(28) Let them sit alone in silence beneath the Lord’s demands... ~Lamentations 3:26
~~~
If we want to be revived by the Lord today: see the cycle of human sin and God's redemption. Accept that we will live through this cycle over and over again until we (finally) die to this earth and live with God forever. Until then, there is grief...because there is sin. There are hard days, and days when we need revived. But guess what? Our God revives us!
(32) Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. (33) For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow. ~Lamentations 3:32-33
If we want to be revived by the Lord today:
Depend on God today. Search for God today. Wait quietly for salvation from the Lord today. Submit...to the yoke of his discipline today (Lamentations 3:25-27).
When I wrote, "Lord, please revive me", I didn't expect Him to do so in the next few moments within the next few verses of my daily reading. But He did.
When I wrote, "Lord, please revive me", I didn't expect to see "my" reviving verses (Lamentations 3:22-23) in an article that I read a couple hours later, but I did.
Depend on God today. Search for God today. Wait quietly for salvation from the Lord today. Submit...to the yoke of his discipline today (Lamentations 3:25-27).
And then watch and wait and experience the Lord's revival (and confirmation) today.
sarah
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