Letting the Word Speak

Sometimes I think it is important for people to just get out of the way of God's word and let it speak on its own.  It is so tempting these days to give an application of it and those aren't always wrong.  But these words written by so many inspired authors so long ago still have a message to you and I today.  Let's not forget that the same Holy Spirit that existed then exists in this world now.  And He speaks through this word!

A view of the Everett Naval Base, home of the U.S.S Nimitz.  The Olympic Mountain Range is visible to the west in the distance.
 
I came across this passage this morning, and does such a good job of capturing so many emotions that we have experienced here in the Northwest.  It does start on a very depressing note, and you may find that you have experienced the same agony that the prophet Jeremiah expresses in this text.  While you may not have been driven into exile by an angry God and had to observe the city you love being burned down, at times you may have experienced trials that felt like what he describes.  Give this passage a chance, because it will take you full circle.

Lamentations 3

Hope in the Lord’s Faithfulness

 I am the one who has seen the afflictions
    that come from the rod of the Lord’s anger.
² He has led me into darkness,
    shutting out all light.
³ He has turned his hand against me
    again and again, all day long.

⁴ He has made my skin and flesh grow old.
    He has broken my bones.
⁵ He has besieged and surrounded me
    with anguish and distress.
⁶ He has buried me in a dark place,
    like those long dead.

⁷ He has walled me in, and I cannot escape.
    He has bound me in heavy chains.
⁸ And though I cry and shout,
    he has shut out my prayers.
⁹ He has blocked my way with a high stone wall;
    he has made my road crooked.

¹⁰ He has hidden like a bear or a lion,
    waiting to attack me.
¹¹ He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces,
    leaving me helpless and devastated.
¹² He has drawn his bow
    and made me the target for his arrows.

¹³ He shot his arrows
    deep into my heart.
¹⁴ My own people laugh at me.
    All day long they sing their mocking songs.
¹⁵ He has filled me with bitterness
    and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink.

¹⁶ He has made me chew on gravel.
    He has rolled me in the dust.
¹⁷ Peace has been stripped away,
    and I have forgotten what prosperity is.
¹⁸ I cry out, “My splendor is gone!
    Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost!”

¹⁹ The thought of my suffering and homelessness
    is bitter beyond words.^[a]
20 I will never forget this awful time,
    as I grieve over my loss.
²¹ Yet I still dare to hope
    when I remember this:

²² The faithful love of the Lord never ends!^[b]
    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!”

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
    to those who search for him.
²⁶ So it is good to wait quietly
    for salvation from the Lord.
²⁷ And it is good for people to submit at an early age
    to the yoke of his discipline:

²⁸ Let them sit alone in silence
    beneath the Lord’s demands.
²⁹ Let them lie face down in the dust,
    for there may be hope at last.
³⁰ Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them
    and accept the insults of their enemies.

³¹ For no one is abandoned
    by the Lord forever.
³² Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion
    because of the greatness of his unfailing love.
³³ For he does not enjoy hurting people
    or causing them sorrow.

³⁴ If people crush underfoot
    all the prisoners of the land,
³⁵ if they deprive others of their rights
    in defiance of the Most High,
³⁶ if they twist justice in the courts—
    doesn’t the Lord see all these things?

³⁷ Who can command things to happen
    without the Lord’s permission?
³⁸ Does not the Most High
    send both calamity and good?
³⁹ Then why should we, mere humans, complain
    when we are punished for our sins?

⁴⁰ Instead, let us test and examine our ways.
    Let us turn back to the Lord.
⁴¹ Let us lift our hearts and hands
    to God in heaven and say,
⁴² “We have sinned and rebelled,
    and you have not forgiven us.

⁴³ “You have engulfed us with your anger, chased us down,
    and slaughtered us without mercy.
⁴⁴ You have hidden yourself in a cloud
    so our prayers cannot reach you.
⁴⁵ You have discarded us as refuse and garbage
    among the nations.

⁴⁶ “All our enemies
    have spoken out against us.
⁴⁷ We are filled with fear,
    for we are trapped, devastated, and ruined.”
⁴⁸ Tears stream from my eyes
    because of the destruction of my people!

⁴⁹ My tears flow endlessly;
    they will not stop
⁵⁰ until the Lord looks down
    from heaven and sees.
⁵¹ My heart is breaking
    over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.

⁵² My enemies, whom I have never harmed,
    hunted me down like a bird.
⁵³ They threw me into a pit
    and dropped stones on me.
⁵⁴ The water rose over my head,
    and I cried out, “This is the end!”

⁵⁵ But I called on your name, Lord,
    from deep within the pit.
⁵⁶ You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading!
    Hear my cry for help!”
⁵⁷ Yes, you came when I called;
    you told me, “Do not fear.”

⁵⁸ Lord, you are my lawyer! Plead my case!
    For you have redeemed my life.
⁵⁹ You have seen the wrong they have done to me, Lord.
    Be my judge, and prove me right.
⁶⁰ You have seen the vengeful plots
    my enemies have laid against me.

⁶¹ Lord, you have heard the vile names they call me.
    You know all about the plans they have made.
⁶² My enemies whisper and mutter
    as they plot against me all day long.
⁶³ Look at them! Whether they sit or stand,
    I am the object of their mocking songs.

⁶⁴ Pay them back, Lord,
    for all the evil they have done.
⁶⁵ Give them hard and stubborn hearts,
    and then let your curse fall on them!
⁶⁶ Chase them down in your anger,
    destroying them beneath the Lord’s heavens.

Submission of Everything

Whoever heard of the Hero dying for the villain?   - Trip Lee

Our intense training continues.  God continues to turn upside down everything we believed about how to live our lives.  And it is great!

The weather has been outstanding over the last week here in Washington, and many people have come outside to enjoy it while it lasts.  Our prayer has been that the Lord would lead us to people that need Him, and in turn that people would, for whatever reason, come to us as well.  That has been happening in a really big way in our neighborhood and through Everett Family Church.

Yesterday alone we got to meet 2 of our neighbors, one who is completely unchurched and another who is looking for a place of discipleship due to being in the spotlight of community leadership.  We also have managed to deepen relationships with two other families who are unchurched and are not committed to Jesus, and are getting to spend regular time with families from our church who are either on the fence or are mixed, meaning some are believers in Jesus and some are not.  This takes me back to what I started the post with.  Training.  Our training.

Years ago when I looked into joining the ministry, I would have told you that the most important thing is powerful preaching and teaching within the church.  Pastors and leaders needed to be available and positively magnetic, and these individuals needed to be able to attract many nonbelievers by sheer force of will, personal magnetism, and excellent and foolproof teaching.  While I still believe it is important that church planters and pastors love people, that love has to come from the Lord.  If church leaders don't feel that way about people, they simply must submit that area of their life to the Lord and let him work through it.

2 Corinthians 12:
⁸ Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. ⁹ Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. ¹⁰ That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

And no matter what, every single thing we do must be committed first to the Lord.  This is a very serious thing that we can't just pay lip-service to.  We have to believe it and do it in every aspect of our lives.

Psalm 127:1-2
Unless the Lord builds a house,
    the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the Lord protects a city,
    guarding it with sentries will do no good.
² It is useless for you to work so hard
    from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
    for God gives rest to his loved ones.

When you come down to it, our job here in Everett is fantastically simple.  To have an impact on this society, to draw people in, to bring them to the feet of Jesus, we must stop doing.  Yes, you read that right.  We have to stop and we have to get on our knees to the Lord and ask Him to do these things.  Only then do things happen that we didn't expect.  Only then do we see the Holy Spirit move in and around us.  

To lead His way, we have to follow.  To take action His way, we have to get on our knees.  To produce fruit, we must take in from The Vine.  To do is to pray first.

 2 Samuel 5
²³ And again David asked the Lord what to do. “Do not attack them straight on,” the Lord replied. “Instead, circle around behind and attack them near the poplar^[a] trees. ²⁴ When you hear a sound like marching feet in the tops of the poplar trees, be on the alert! That will be the signal that the Lord is moving ahead of you to strike down the Philistine army.” ²⁵ So David did what the Lord commanded, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon^[b] to Gezer.

Prayer
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