"I have cried until the tears no longer come; my heart is broken." Lamentations 2:11
Have you ever cried until the tears would no longer come? Have you ever said, "my heart is broken?" There have been numerous times in my life when I have cried that long and more than once have the words "my heart is broken" poured from my mouth. As I read verse eleven my spirit said, "been there, said that." Then I realized Jeremiah's heart ached for his people, not for himself. This puts a completely different spin on the verse. I had to ask myself, "Have I been there, said that?
Jeremiah continues:
After reading the remaining portion of verse eleven I was forced to ask myself: Does my spirit pour out in agony for the people involved? It makes me sad and embarrassed to give you my answer. My answer is no. Am I willing to give to those who are less fortunate than me? Yes. Do I pray for needs as they arise, such as a tsunami, an earthquake, and other natural disasters? Yes. Have I physically given of my time and energies to help others? Yes. Does my spirit pour in agony for them? No.
The conviction of the Holy Spirit is heavy as I write today. If I love the Lord I should care for the plight of His people.
Dear Jesus, I am sorry for not caring more about your people, those around me in need. Forgive me for throwing money, things, and leftovers their way. Give me a heart of desperation for their souls and their their situation. Teach me to care like you, to love like you, and to give like you.
Jeremiah continues:
"My spirit is poured out in agony as I see the desperate plight of my people."
Have I ever cared about the plight of my people? Plight is defined as a condition, state, or situation, unfavorable or unfortunate one. Each one of us can name a person or persons in an unfavorable condition, state, or situation. We may not know someone personally but it doesn't take long to hear of such conditions, just turn on your computer, read the paper, or watch the news. After reading the remaining portion of verse eleven I was forced to ask myself: Does my spirit pour out in agony for the people involved? It makes me sad and embarrassed to give you my answer. My answer is no. Am I willing to give to those who are less fortunate than me? Yes. Do I pray for needs as they arise, such as a tsunami, an earthquake, and other natural disasters? Yes. Have I physically given of my time and energies to help others? Yes. Does my spirit pour in agony for them? No.
The conviction of the Holy Spirit is heavy as I write today. If I love the Lord I should care for the plight of His people.
Dear Jesus, I am sorry for not caring more about your people, those around me in need. Forgive me for throwing money, things, and leftovers their way. Give me a heart of desperation for their souls and their their situation. Teach me to care like you, to love like you, and to give like you.
9 Comments:
This is beautiful Wendy! And it is a topic I have been struggling with and praying about for several months now. I think the Lord is slowly showing me how I can serve Him in this regard, but it takes a willing heart, and sometimes, I know I don't possess one. I'm praying for you Wendy!
My verses for today are familiar again, and they speak of the Lord's unfailing faithfulness.
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!”
Something to dwell in and one this morning!
Have a blessed day!
Karen, Basel
Karen
I feel those new mercies each day when I get up to do the things I do but really don't want to do them. He gives me what I need to carry on.
I love those verse, too.
Wendy,
I feel the same conviction you do! Yesterday, this was my same prayer. I prayed out to God to have Jeremiah's heart. His heart truly was heartbroken for all the sinners around him. Few prophets have suffered so much public humiliation & rejection. How many times did he warn the Israelites to follow God's Word, to flee from their idols and turn their hearts back to the One True God?
Even tho he walked with God, through one calamity after another, he always felt God's loving wings and he knew he was protected through this dark period of his life. Through each trial God's love pulled him nearer to Him, as His perfect purpose was being accomplished.
Oh, to be able to not be in distress during our dark periods! To be drawn closer to God during these times! To walk with God by faith, not by sight. To trust even when we do not understand what God is doing in our life. To know that He loves us so much that He would not allow anything to happen to us, unless it was part of his Glorious Purpose!!!! This is a light bulb moment to me today as I ponder over the way Jeremiah has handled one calamity in his life after another! His strength came from the LORD. Daily, his hope was in the LORD. Daily, he obeyed and walked along the path right next to God. His focus was where I want my focus to be! He did not focus on his needs, but those around him.
What a wise man Jeremiah was; what a man of character and how, how much we can learn through meditating on his life.
In this self-centered world how do we get Jeremiah's heartbroken heart? I'm quick to pray over the lost soul's in this nation, but do I cry tears until they no longer come?! No. I'm not even close.
Lord, I'm so sorry that I do not care about the sinners in this world like You do. I want a heart like yours. I want to be closer to You, I want a deeper relationship with You -that I am so filled up with You, that you are over-flowing right out of me. Amen.
God's love is never-ending. Even tho we go through our difficult times his comfort is always available to us. The bright spots in today's reading that we can count on:
*His faithful love never ends! 3:22
*The LORD is my inheritance 3:24
*He shows compassion 3:32
"Yes, you came when I called; you told me, "Do not fear." 3:57
*You are my lawyer 3:58
*You have redeemed my life. 4:58
What an awesome God we serve!
Lord, thank you for your many blessing that I do not even deserve. Thank you that you have chosen me to be your princess. You've adopted me and I know without a doubt that my name is in your Book of Lamb. Thank you for your never-ending love. Lord, humbly I come before you in awe. Thank you for being next to me and giving me these light-bulb moments today. Amen.
Blessings dear, dear ladies. Loving and praying for you today.
Lori- AZ
Wendy
Thanks for the different view, I too had underlined those verses, and have cried "for myself". I do pray for our lost people. They are someone's child, what if they were mine, and all of us are God's. I imagine God looking down with such desire for His lost to come back to Him.
There's a song I think it is called "Hosanna" and is sung by Hillsong and there is a line in it that says "Break my heart for what breaks yours.... Hosanna" The song is one that melts my spirit every time I listen to it and I try often to pray that line - God break my heart for what breaks yours, give me a heart for your children, fill me with compassion and your kind of love. It's sometimes easier to love the ones you don't know than the ones you do and God is helping to find balance in loving the unlovely. :)
Have a Blessed Day Everyone.
Thanks Wendy for your dedication to us all.
Lynn - OR
I am relating totally to today's postings. I have read the same verses and wondered if I have such a hard heart that I cannot be like Jeremiah.
I too pray for a heart that breaks for what breaks God's heart; wonderful phrase Lynn.
And why is it that my heart breaks easier for those I do not know, instead of those near and supposedly dear to me?
Alot to chew on today ladies, thank you.
Morgen
Karen - What a powerfully honest post. Thank you for sharing your heart. I know many of us can relate on so many different levels. Your prayer, especially, resonated deep within my spirit. Sweet blessings & JOY, Amy
I have cried til there were no more tears about the plight of others a few times. I cried so hard because I wished I could live that person's life for them and make things better. I saw there situation as almost hopeless and I was at a loss to make things better myself. My mistake at those times were wishing "I" could do for them what they were unable to do for themselves. My cry should have been out to God asking for HIS help and HIS mercy at those times and in these people's lives. My tears came more, I judge, from my frustration at not being able to fix things than their plgiht. I have learned from those times that I cannot live another person's life for them...but I can pray for them and ask for God's help, his peace, his comfort realizing he has the whole picture and He is in control not me.
There seemed to be a lot of Jeremiah's Laments that I could relate to in this mornings reading.
Too much to write out here but I will list the scripture and how I related to them...
Lamentations 3:21-24 The word hope drew me in. Hope is a word I have come to love and understand. A mustard seed of faith leads us to hope. There is always hope in the Lord.
Lamentations 3:31-33 Knowing that God does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow, or bringing grief to their lives. At those times he still shows compassion.
For me I judge some of those times were to bring me to my knees, to humble me for his purpose to serve in a way I may not have chose to serve on my own.
Lamentations 3:37-39 The realization that only God can command things to happen or give permission for both calamity and good. Why should I complain if those things come in the way of discipline because of sin or to get our attention.
And lastly Lamentations 3:55-57 God hears our call, our cries at times we are deep within the pit of life and reassures us not to fear, there is always hope when we realize HE is always Near. He does not abandon. I can so relate to this lament as I myself cried out from the deep pit of depression.
Praising God for:
Hope
Times of being humbled
Times of discipline
Times of reassurance
we need not fear
I (God)am always near!
Love from Debbie in Illinois
Oh Wendy...what a beautiful post. Your heart is so tender to the Lord. Your honesty has spoken volumes to me.
Gals, I have no words to say tonight. It's been a long day. I only just wrote a post on today's reading now...but my heart isn't there.
I have been alluding to a situation lately, and to be honest, it involves my nephew. He is not a 'kid'. He is 42 years old. (His Mom, my sister, was 18 years old when I was born, so I became an 'Aunt' at age 5.) Too much has happened to share, but he has left his wife and 2 precious children and we are uncovering so much evil it's frightening. I cannot share in detail, but his wife and children are in desperate need of prayer. Please lift them up...there are countless requests...but especially for circumstances surrounding this upcoming Sunday night. We need to see God intervene in a miraculous way.
I know He is able. His mercies are fresh every morning. He will not abandon His own.
Trusting,
Joy
Thanks, I have felt sad about affliction and wonder how and when God will use me, and HE Answers...right where you are. I send opportunities for you to share and encourage all the time.
I have come to feel the way Paul did about his affliction. It places us in a place of less distration, at least in my case...and if I cannot Do that day, I can Say, I am grateful and Blessed anyway. It is an amazing thing, that closeness, the revelations. Thank you all for sharing too.
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