Doing Something
Have you ever been tormented?
I believe that more than the desire to be liked is the need to be respected. Who wants to experience the shame and humiliation of being laughed at, or being ridiculed in public?
Over the coming two days, we will experience what it might have been like to be paraded through the streets of Jerusalem, mocked and derided, beaten and spat upon, whipped and persecuted. And in light of recent persecutions against Christians around the world, we will see this brutality in a more personal way than we have before.
But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior;therefore my persecutors will stumble,and they will not prevail.They will be greatly shamed,for they will not succeed.Their eternal dishonorwill never be forgotten.- Jeremiah 20:11
In today's reading from Jeremiah, we are reminded that God is with us always, even in our moments of despair and disgrace, especially in those moments.
But there is something inside us that holds us back from letting go, from letting God take charge of the situation, from leaving justice in His hands.
We need to take matters into our hands, and so we ask God for help in our battle, rather than for strength and courage to leave the battle to Him.
Can we stand idly by and watch brutality unfold all around us, while doing nothing?
There is a group of archeologists in Syria risking their lives to protect and save ancient sites. There is nothing unusual about that, but these artifacts are not in danger of decay or erosion or crumbling due to natural causes.
They are targets of extremists who are destroying them or selling them on the black market to raise money for ISIS.
Should they be doing this, or leaving it in the hands of God?
They feel they must do something or the last remaining artifacts from the 3rd and 4th centuries will be lost forever.
They come from Turkey, crossing the border and traveling for miles, through rough terrain and into the battle zone, dodging bullets and mortar shells to cover mosaics with Tyvek and protect them with sandbags.
One of the archeologists said he had to do this. He didn't want his daughter to ask him one day, "Father, what were you doing when they were destroying these things?" And for him to say, "Nothing."
But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior;therefore my persecutors will stumble,and they will not prevail.
So, maybe this does not mean leaving it totally up to God, but to go forth knowing He is with us.
As we come together over these next few days to experience the persecution of Jesus, let us think of ourselves as those standing along the road, watching fearfully and painfully.
And let us ask ourselves, "What could we have done?"
More to come...