This Day in History: 0000-09-12

September 12 – Lamentations 3:55-59

But I called on Your name, Lord, from deep within the pit.
You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!”
Yes, You came when I called; You told me, “Do not fear.”
Lord, You are my lawyer! Plead my case!
For You have redeemed my life.
You have seen the wrong they have done to me, Lord.
Be my judge, and prove me right.

Life is full of betrayal. It just is.  We’re never going to get around that. We are all selfish and we’re often not thinking about how our actions may hurt the people we love.  We have all been betrayed and we have all been the betrayer, in one way or another.

Sometimes those hurts cut so deep down to the very core of who we are and cast us down into deep pits of grief and despair.  It is from the depth of those pits that we must cry out to God for help.  It will only come from Him.

Let’s plead with Him in those moments of despair, knowing with absolute certainty that He will answer with those wonderful words, “Do not fear.”  Let’s resist the natural urge to take revenge and fight for ourselves.  Let’s allow our great Advocate to be the One to fight for us.  He will.  He has redeemed us from our wretched state of slavery to sin and death, and called us to be His very own.  He will judge fairly in the end and He will prove us right. (When our hearts are pure and our motives are just and we have been wronged.)

It is so very difficult when the world constantly beats the drum of “self-care” and convinces us that we must constantly fight for ourselves.  But that is not a principle that lines up with Scripture, my friends.  The Bible says, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”  It also says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways, acknowledge Him and he will direct your paths.”

Seeking and following God and His leading should be our only goal.  There are times when He will lead us to take action and remove ourselves from damaging situations.  And there are times in which He will lead us to wait patiently where we are while He works.  Let’s listen for Him.  Let’s allow Him to direct our paths.  Let’s be still before Him and allow Him to plead our case, to fight for us.  Let’s listen to His loving reassurance as we call out to Him for help, “My precious child, do not fear!”