Smeagol is Free!
A hermitudinal view of...stuff...


11.07.2004  

The Word

Lamentations 3:19 - 24

Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and the bitterness. Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me. This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I have hope in him."




Indeed, I have hope in Him :) Last night, Leeman reminded me of something I needed so desperately to hear. He said that it is in the times like these, the times where we are in the utter pits of despair, that make us to worship the Lord with fervent sweetness. And oh, what a sweetness! For He is my portion, and He is my hope!



Psalm 6:6, 7

I am weary with my sighing; every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears. My eye has wasted away with grief; it has become old because of all my adversaries.




I have no adversaries in this pain. I have brokenly shared my grief, and I have been lovingly and gently comforted by friends. Yet no one is with me at night, no one is there to comfort me in the loney quiet hours, no one is there to hold my heart. No one, save the Lord. What better hands could I be in than His? He knows a pain deeper than mine, a brokenness I can only imagine. Oh my Lord, how could you bear such pain? Chip said that when we are bruised by You, we are drawn closer to You through the sufferings we graciously share in. In this I rejoice, for I am being made more and more like my Lord for whom I will gladly suffer loss. And oh, such loss!



Habakkuk 3:17 - 19

Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds' feet, and makes me walk on my high places.




*Sigh*...yes, and I will rejoice. Though it seems as if so much is missing, so much is gone, what have I lost? The Lord is my strength still! He must be, for I am weak with my sighing, weary with my weeping. I have nothing left to give; perhaps that is what He's wanted all along.



Hebrews 12:1, 2

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.




It's bittersweet to look at this circumstance and realize that, by God's grace, I did indeed lay aside the "encumbrance" that was there that I might not "sin." Yet how could I not? Is not Christ my goal? Is not He my desire, my hope, the author and perfecter of the very faith I walk in? Yes! As He prayed in the garden, so I prayed: "Not my will, but Yours be done." So I continue to pray, for so I must...my heart aches still. Christ endured the cross for the joy set before Him. It is the very same hope that I take part in, is it not? Yes! So I will run the race with endurance that is set before me with hope and with joy...for so I must.



Isaiah 43:1

But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!"




I am His. What's more, His covenant promises say that He is mine! What is more astounding, that I should have a claim upon the Lord, or that He should sweetly condescend to brokenly and shamefully proclaim His claim upon me? Truly, the two are one. My claim upon Him is only as strong and deep as His claim is upon me! And He says of me, "you are Mine!" *Sigh*...I must remember that. It's been hard to do that, but He's reminding me that I am still His. Slowly, as the hurting becomes less overwhelming, I realize that He has been weeping with me. I also realize that He has been smiling over me, for He has orchestrated this for my own good...for your own good...remember that...

posted by Bolo | 1:53 PM
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