|
 Heal
me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
save
me, and I shall be saved;
for
you are my praise. —
Jeremiah 17:14
Dear
Saints:
Thus
prayed a frustrated Jeremiah. He had been faithful in proclaiming
God's prophetic word to the people; yet, they derided him with
responses such as, "Where is the word from the LORD? Let it come!"
Jeremiah
didn't think his loyalty to Yahweh was paying out the benefits it
should, so he prayed for vindication: "Let my persecutors be
shamed, but do not let me be shamed; let them be dismayed, but do not
let me be dismayed; bring on them the day of disaster; destroy them
with double destruction!" In the end, however, he gives himself
over to God—the only one who can heal him, and deliver
him from the difficulties he experiences.
Lent
is now upon us and we, like Jeremiah, may sometimes find life
frustrating. We have expectations that since we put so much into life
that it should yield certain results. And when it doesn't we, also
like Jeremiah, want to be vindicated. Yet, ultimately, we must give
up our efforts to control our lives and the people in them, admit our
brokenness, and give ourselves over to God—the only one
who can heal us, and deliver us.
There's
no better time than Lent to do this since Lent, by design, turns our
attention inward. As we do this we are provided the opportunity over
these forty days to honestly evaluate our hearts and minds in the
shadow of the cross—the ultimate expression of God's desire to
see us made whole again.
Will
we? Will we allow the cross to have its way in us? In the effort to
be open to the work of the cross in our lives, it may be helpful for
us to appropriate Jeremiah's prayer for ourselves and make it our
daily prayer this Lenten season.
Things
still may not turn out as we would like for them to—but our
attempts to control people and circumstances will have been placed
into God's hands, which is right where they need to be if we are to
find healing and deliverance.
Heal
me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
save
me, and I shall be saved;
for
you are my praise.
Grace
and peace,
Pastor
Larry |
