Jeremiah 9:1-2
I wish my head were a well of water
and my eyes fountains of tears
So I could weep day and night
for casualties among my dear, dear people.
At times I wish I had a wilderness hut,
a backwoods cabin,
Where I could get away from my people
and never see them again.
They’re a faithless, feckless bunch,
a congregation of degenerates.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Yesterday we had an unseasonably warm January day. Greg and his lifelong friend, Rick, took a 250-mile motorcycle ride through the remote forests of the Ozarks and ate lunch in a little town called Jasper. Greg said the scenery was beautiful, serene…with long stretches where they saw absolutely no sign of human life. In one 60-mile-plus stretch, they met two cars. There are a lot of areas like this within a short drive of our community. When I’ve experienced personal challenges, I’ve often threatened (jokingly) to move to one of them…in particular, a scenic, pastoral mountain spot north of us called Prim. We all have times when we wish we could simply run away from everything that is difficult, sad, upsetting or unpleasant…and that is where I go – at least in my mind!
There are times when our hearts are so heavy and full for the concerns of our lives – and the lives of others – that we feel as if we actually could weep day and night. This morning, I opened my e-mail and Facebook accounts and learned that a church friend’s mother died suddenly last night, the 19-year-old great-grandson of my mother’s church friends is critically ill with the flu and pneumonia, a childhood friend buried her father yesterday, two friends are battling the flu, and another friend voiced an “un-spoken” prayer request. There were others, but you get the idea. On my desk, I have a list of at least ten people who need a card of encouragement, sympathy, get-well sentiments, and more.
Most days, I could spend a good chunk of my time praying for others and addressing their concerns…and yes, there are times when I really do wish I could “run away and move to Prim!” If you go back and read the chapters before and after this scripture passage, you will see that Jeremiah was crying out to God about the people of Judah. They were not living right…they had a zillion problems – mostly of their own making – and they didn’t appear to have any desire to change or do better! Jeremiah was heartsick for them… and fed up, at the same time. And essentially, he asked God, “What am I to do?”
As Christians, this must be our question. How do we show love, compassion and concern for others without drowning in their problems or becoming so frustrated when they don’t respond as we desire that we are ready to “run away and move to Prim”? If you continue reading in the 9th chapter of Jeremiah, you will see in verse 24 that God tells us not to get “high and mighty” or smug. He says, “If you brag, brag of this and this only: That you understand and know me. I’m God, and I act in loyal love. I do what’s right and set things right and fair, and delight in those who do the same things. These are my trademarks.” In other words, we are to do what we can…love others, pray for them, extend compassion as God directs…and then step aside and let God to the “heavy lifting”.
I know that this is a lot easier said than done for many of us. But God wants us to exercise balance in our lives as His servants. He wants us to show compassion and concern for others…but He doesn’t want us to get so worked up about all of this that we feel we need to run away to a backwoods cabin and never see people again! My challenge today for each of us is that we would ask God to show us balance…to give us a heart for others and their needs…to show us how, when and where to address these…and then to give us the wisdom and discernment to get out of His way and let Him work.
©2014 Debbie Robus
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