I make a point of trying not to refer to human-beings as creators of anything, because in truth this would be a misleading statement. None of us are creators. We have the pleasure of taking what the Father has created and making something out of it; but it’s His raw material we’re using. In the true sense of the word, He is the only Creator, because He can take nothing and make something out of it. Acknowledging Him as the Principal Creator helps us put our lives in perspective. For instance, I’m a big admirer of anyone who has pursued artistry or a trade to the point of mastering it. We typically refer to a person like this as a master craftsman or a master artist. Whether it’s designing a sculpture or taking a broken washing machine apart and putting it back together like new, I’m fascinated by the expertise of skill. But none of these masteries can hold a candle to mastering our spiritual lives through the Lord Jesus Christ. We were created for this, and whenever it isn’t our primary goal, life will become extremely stale.
In Lamentations 3, Jeremiah, the prophet, is heartbroken because he delivered a Word of warning and instruction from God to the Children of Israel, but they did not heed it. They were negligent towards God’s Word and suffered devastating consequences because of it. Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians, but the prophet didn’t relish in ‘I told you so’s’. He lamented over their mistakes and misfortune. This is very true to the response of our loving Savior and Redeemer who showed us the right way to go and told us the truth. He doesn’t take any enjoyment from the consequences we meet when we disobey. Instead, he stands with open arms, wanting only to help us turn to him and allow him to direct our paths.
Jeremiah loved God’s people so much that he took on their sorrow as his own. Our Heavenly Father allowed His people living in Old Testament times to see the consequences of their disobedience, just as He allows us to see the consequences of ours. Disobedience belongs to the realm of darkness. Legally, the devil can pounce wherever he sees an opening, and disobedience opens the door wide for him. Even though they had been unrepentant, it was very hard for Jeremiah to see the devil devouring God’s people, and he complained to God because of the severity of their consequences.
In Lamentations 3:11-15(NLT), he said, “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.”
Our God is a Righteous Judge. Romans 2:6 says that He will judge everyone according to what they’ve done. No person living, or who has ever lived, will escape judgement. Jeremiah complained because he felt pain for the agony God’s people were going through, but the dark skies began to dissipate. He began to understand that despite our sinfulness, we serve a merciful God. In Lamentations 22:23(NLT) he wrote, “22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”
Although he was disappointed and dismayed, Jeremiah understood that the key to overcoming is to press into God, to stay before His throne to obtain mercy. God is warning us in this hour because so many of us are losing focus, and we’re not pressing in. In Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9, Jesus gave us a visual of what pursuing the Father looks like. It’s a template for persistence. He encourages us to keep asking, because we’ll receive what we’re asking for; keep seeking, and we’ll find, and keep on knocking, because the door will be opened to us.
Our God is passionate about relationship. We see this very clearly in the relationship He has with Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit. We also see it in His desire for a relationship with us. He wants all of us. A full surrender is what He’s after. This level of surrender can only be achieved through seeking God with the fullness of our hearts. Acts 17:24 tells us that God made the world and everything in it. He is the Creator of all and doesn’t need anything from us to be who He is. He gives us life, and we are to give that life back to Him so that He can expand it in every way. Acts 17:27(NLT) tells us the way to do this is to seek Him. It says, “so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;”
God is not hard to find, but it can appear as though He is because of all the things that are distracting us in our modern times. This is why we must grope for Him unyieldingly, because He’s worth our every effort, and He looks to make sure we understand this. It is critical, brothers and sisters, that we not allow our lives to become stale and lackluster through spiritual malnourishment. God longs to show us a new way of living life in the Spirit. It’s exciting and fresh, just like His mercies. Many of us are frustrated with sameness, and the answer for it is to press deeply into the Father through the Spirit of Christ. It is to meditate on Him and quiet ourselves in stillness. God will lead us to new depths in spiritual waters, but we must be willing to meet Him with focus, expectancy and full surrender.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Frustration of Sameness”, written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.