Lord, Do Something!

“O LORD, do something...for our backsliding is great...why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays only a night?   Why are you...like a warrior powerless to save?” Jeremiah 14:7-9.

When my daughter was involved in the dark things of the world, on occasion she would promise me that she was going to give up the life.  We would have wonderful talks and I felt hope rising, only to have it dashed upon the rocks realizing she had drifted back.  We would get calls from the police telling us that she was in jail and we needed to come and get her.  Once she became an adult, we were powerless to save her and she was incarcerated in Raleigh for 7 months.  She took the power to save out of our hands by her continuation of a dark lifestyle. 

The people of God were no different as they continued to backslide in their loyalty and love for Him.  They made decisions and life choices that shut Him out and opened up their worship of other gods.  When things got difficult they had the audacity to blame Him for not being there for them.  They called Him a stranger in their land... unrecognizable.  They compared Him to a wandering traveler who would not stay at their home for more than a night...illusive.  Ultimately, their words would sting as they accused Him of being incapable of removing the hardship from their lives... powerless.  Are we really any different?

We choose things on Sundays to do other than resting in the Lord.  Like a host, we only open our hearts to Jesus one day a week instead of inviting Him to move in.  We backslide in our time with Him and forget His power to save, comfort and heal our hearts. Then we turn on Him in blame and demand answers that are not ours to know.  They are the things of God and He shares them with those who spend time, resources, service and intimacy with Him.  We all have this availability and privilege if only we would approach Him during the calm as desperately as we approach Him in our troubles.  We must repent from our sin of backsliding.  ‘Repentance is not just admitting our sin; it is turning from it.  God wants more than words. Real faith reveals itself through actions.  When our mouths say one thing but our actions reveal something else, we are only lying to ourselves.’ Melissa Spoelstra, Jeremiah – Daring to Hope in an Unstable World, p. 160.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of my hand.…” John 10:47.