Pursue the world,Lose The Splendor

“All the splendor has departed from Daughter Zion. Her princes are like deer that find no pasture; in weakness they have fled before the pursuer.”
‭‭Lamentations‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/111/lam.1.6.niv

I thought  it would be cool.  And yet, I was interrupting the splendor. 

Our friends had gathered at the shore to share a fire and sunset.  My phone was busy.  Dozens of photos attempting to capture the splendor.

I tried the "trick" shot.  My hand seems to hold the sun.  Rather than enjoy the sun, all I notice is that really old hand in the front of the scene.

Lamentations 1:6 peaks my interest in the whole book.  This verse does not inspire me on its own.  The book of Lamentations reveals the suffering of the Israelites when their beloved city of Jerusalem was destroyed.  These poems lay bare the cause of the suffering, their sin, and the effect of that sin before the people and God. 

It could be a discouraging read, and yet gems of encouragement pop off the written page.   The familiar verses in chapter 3,verses 22-23, gave the basis for the popular hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness".  (I just read the lyrics were composed just a few miles from my home!)

Another gem in chapter 5,verse 19 with two words encourage me.  "And yet.." (in The Message:  "And yet, God, you're sovereign still, your throne intact and eternal.")  In spite of our circumstances, our sin and resulting consequences, God is sovereign still.  God, in all His splendor, will stand.  God is the foundation.  God is in control.  It is not our job to improve the presentation of God's sovereignty.

I need the reminder: in spite of my failures and sin, God is sovereign, intact and eternal. Regardless of the world's attempts to sell us cheap imitations, I need to rest and relish His splendor and sovereignty.

God Knows, Chooses, Believes in me

I've named it "Disclosure Corner".  We live in a society that needs to expect misunderstanding and failure.  This pile is just for the last 7 months!  Not shown are countless times I've clicked "I've read and agree" on an internet site.  We need to cover ourselves with disclosure yet never really read the warnings for issues, problems and failures. (Note the still sealed plastic mailer.)

 "Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."  Jeremiah 1:6 NIV

Today as I read, it seems Jeremiah is delivering his potential failure warning to God as God reveals His calling for Jeremiah.  Jeremiah is just like so many other Biblical heroes, and us, ordinary wannabe servants.  Worried about not meeting expectations. I'll admit that too often I've confessed the same when sensing God's leading.

In spite of Jeremiah's prediction of inadequacy, God replies with empowering instructions:
Do not say you are a child. Go where I send you.
Don't be afraid.  I am with you.

Then God did a really cool thing.  He touched Jeremiah's mouth with His hand and pronounced, "See today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."(Jeremiah 1:8 NIV)

Now that's a scrapbook moment! It should be preserved in a method so it will serve as a constant reminder. It's worthy of a post-it note on the bathroom mirror so it will be a daily reminder.

I don't have the influence of Jeremiah but each day God has Jan-sized missions.  I may try to play the disclaimer card with Him but God says the same to me just as He said to Jeremiah, and you;

I know you
I choose you
I believe in You

God reminds me, and you:
Go where I say
I will always be with  you
Remember the past times I have touched your life.

Failure is not an option if I follow His instructions.  He's done it in the past.  He's immensely more reliable than I, so I expect Him to succeed.

Be Impressed with God's Love

"Please pass the donkey..."  I heard a young voice at the Christmas dinner table say. It took me a few seconds to process,our guest wanted the turducken.

We went through a phase of having turducken as part of our Christmas dinner.  My husband loves a crowd so we would have a dozen or more for a traditional meal.  We had all the expected dishes, turkey, jellied cranberry sauce, potatoes and in and out of the bird stuffing!  The television channel made turducken sound like the missing element in a perfect holiday gathering.

The first year the turducken was entertainment for our guests.  We assembled the boned turkey, duck, chicken and stuffing.  It turned out to be a comedy not unlike a Lucille Ball sketch.  To accomplish the layering and assembly it took three of us.  We had bird juice running down cabinets and onto the floor.  Our guests smiled and politely stifled laughter.  The photo preserves the "before the floor mopping" memory.

Unfortunately, there were several mistakes in our recipe.  The stuffing was too salty.  The cooking temperature was incorrect so the turducken was not done at our appointed dinner hour.  It was served with the pie!

We were undaunted.  The second year we made our own revisions to the instructions, like stuffing without saltine crackers, plastic on the floor and aprons on all.

By year three, the year of "the donkey", I asked why?  Why go to the work when very few enjoy the turducken?  We ended up sending the leftovers home with the donkey-lover!


““Why bother even trying to do anything with you when you just keep to your bullheaded ways? You keep beating your heads against brick walls. Everything within you protests against you. From the bottom of your feet to the top of your head, nothing’s working right. Wounds and bruises and running sores— untended, unwashed, unbandaged. Your country is laid waste, your cities burned down. Your land is destroyed by outsiders while you watch, reduced to rubble by barbarians. Daughter Zion is deserted— like a tumbledown shack on a dead-end street, Like a tarpaper shanty on the wrong side of the tracks, like a sinking ship abandoned by the rats. If GOD -of-the-Angel-Armies hadn’t left us a few survivors, we’d be as desolate as Sodom, doomed just like Gomorrah.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭1:5-9‬ ‭MSG‬‬
https://www.bible.com/97/isa.1.5-9.msg

When I read Isaiah 1:6 together with its surrounding verses,I pondered the prophet's challenge of being bull headed.  Made me think of being stubborn as a donkey.  Doing something over and over to impress, even when it's a failure over and over again.

Today I am reminded I am not expected to impress God.  He chose me to have a personal relationship.  I am to enjoy and expand this gift of God.  I am freed from the burden to impress (because I'll never succeed.  I'm a human, a donkey.)  God knows me and loves me!  WOW- now that's impressive!

Be Impressed with God's Great Love!

PS I'm back to blogging on the sixth verse of each book of the Bible.