10/11/2019
Have you ever been so put upon, so set upon, or felt so downtrodden in life that you feared God Himself had abandoned you? What did you do in that time of great fear, sorrow, or suffering? What was the state of your faith at that moment? Were you on the verge of turning away from the Lord, or did you seek Him more fervently? Was your faith waining, or was it surging as you leaned upon it?
“Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:”
Lamentations 3:41 ESV
There is no place in the Bible that demonstrates how we should behave in the throes of our utmost dismay, suffering, and physical or spiritual starvation, more perfectly than Lamentations. Prayer, faith, belief, trust in God, and absolute dependence on Him. I dare say that very few of us have ever been so hungry, and approaching starvation, that our own children began to look like food, but this is the state of the people of Lamentations.
“Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger, who wasted away, pierced by lack of the fruits of the field. The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
Lamentations 4:9-10 ESV
In comparison, is our trouble, or suffering comparable to this in the slightest? Yet, their hands were still being raised, and prayers flowed upwards towards heaven... prayers of contrition, prayers overflowing with tears of sorrow, and cry’s for help and salvation. In the midst of extreme torment faith survived, and grew. Even today, in our pitiful problems, faith grows in the face of trial. Charles Spurgeon recognized this when he wrote...
“The most healthy state of a Christian is to always be empty of self and constantly depending on the Lord for supply; to always be poor in self and rich in Jesus; to be weak as a butterfly personally, but mighty through God to do great things. That is the value of prayer: while it adores God, it lays His creatures where they should be — in the very dust.” - Charles Spurgeon
If you have not faced such weakness yourself, you might be inclined to ask how this could possibly be so... but when confronted as the people of Lamentations were, there are only two real choices in faith. The first one is to abandon it entirely and let nature take its course, and the second is to realize your own insignificance, and turn to God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength... to lay yourself prostate in the dust at the feet of God, and to pray as if you were one of the compassionate women who made their children into food... crying out to Him in contrition for forgiveness, and salvation.
In truth, where else would we go in such times? Who could we turn to if not to God? Have you ever been tempted to turn away from God in the face of great suffering, only to realize that there was nowhere else to turn? In that moment was your faith watered, fertilized, and tended to? How tall did you grow in that moment? How great was your rescue, and how bountiful your spiritual fruit?
“So Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."”
John 6:67-69 ESV
What a sad place it must be for those who suffer and have nowhere to turn. What do they do after their clothes are torn, ashes have covered their heads, their children are consumed, and they have laid themselves face down in the dust... before nothing. I can imagine nothing more pitiful, and hollow... no persons in greater need of our witness, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.”
Jude 1:22-23 ESV
We might hate their garments... which are the things they have done in their lives, and the very flesh of their bodies that have been so abused by sin that they are covered in cankers and sores, but their souls are not beyond our ability to love, any more than ours were beyond the mercy and grace of God through Jesus.
“"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 ESV
So I ask my original two questions once again... What did you do in that time of great fear, sorrow, or suffering? What was the state of your faith at that moment? I would like to think that your prayers of contrition, forgiveness, and trust, in God elevated your faith to new heights. I would also like to ask you a similar question... what did you do when you came upon a sinner who was suffering without hope? What did you bring to them, and to their house?
“And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."”
Luke 19:9-10 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the hard times in our lives that bring us closer to you. Thank you Holy Father for teaching us through Jesus that even in our greatest suffering we have hope in our faith, and deliverance by your mighty hand. Although our ways are not your ways, and we are often confounded and confused, our faith and trust always finds peace, and consolation in you. Help me Lord to deliver the Gospel of Jesus to those lost souls that are similarly suffering, and who, by their disbelief, have no place to turn. Help me to show them the path that leads them to you, and will save their souls. Teach me to deliver your Word, and to pour your Holy Spirit over them like sweet oil; soothing their sores, relieving their pain of sinfulness. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you who leads us through the valley of the shadow of death, and doesn’t abandon us there. Great are you who sets a table before us in the presence of our enemies. Praised be your name for loving us even when we were yet sinners. Glorious are you, and all glory is yours, by the mercy and grace that flows from you through your Son Jesus. Merciful are you in providing for us as we suffer, increasing our faith in tribulation, and never turning from us when we walk lost in the world.
“Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word! Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word. My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes. My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right. Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight. Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.”
Psalms 119:169-176 ESV
Rich Forbes