weep

Greener Grass

“He has hedged me in so that I can’t get out” Lamentations 3:7

There will be times in our lives when we are in situations that we want to escape as quickly as possible. This may be one of the reasons some people suffer depression which may lead to taking their own life. They feel trapped and see no hope of being delivered from their painful situation.

Jeremiah’s situation included spiritual pain with the physical and emotional pain. His cry reveals that he was suffering because he had done all that the Lord had asked of him. His present affliction and pain was the response to his speaking, writing and doing as the Lord had asked.

He had proclaimed God’s word but the people had chosen to reject it and in rejecting it they took to persecuting God’s messenger. This is still the way of those who refuse to accept God’s word. That was bad enough but he also lived to see Jerusalem’s destruction. None of this needed to have happened had the people received the warning and returned to the Lord.

As we walk with the Lord Jesus Christ and seek to proclaim His gospel there will inevitably be times when we find ourselves in situations where we are being persecuted in some way and feel trapped. We want to escape. As far as we know we have been faithful in our walk with Jesus and sharing the Gospel. Yet, like Jeremiah, the response has been hostile.

The same can be said in regard to being a leader in the church. We long to see Christians respond to the Lord and grow, but they seem seduced and trapped by worldly values and ways. This is akin to Jeremiah weeping over Jerusalem. Jesus also wept over Jerusalem.

Many years ago, a man I knew well took his own life as a result of just such a situation. He had led many to Christ, but he became overwhelmed with grief over the worldly ways of some leaders of his church. It appears that he lost hope that it could be recovered. His response to the situation was not the right one – but it does show the depth of grief he suffered. Jeremiah grieved and Jesus’ grieved over Jerusalem’s failure to return to the Lord.

Jeremiah did not lose faith in the Lord, because he knew that it would pass. “For the Lord will not cast off forever. Though He cause grief, yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies” (3:31-32).

There will be times when we feel trapped with no way out, even though we have been faithful to the Lord. The grass may look greener somewhere else; the hunt for that greener grass may simply be a desire to escape a situation where we feel trapped. All the doors ahead may appear closed for now, but at the right time the Lord will open the way for us.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths” Proverbs 3:5-6.

The Look of Jesus

“So Peter went out and wept bitterly” Luke 22:62

This kind of weeping does not come about suddenly and without warning. If we follow some of the events in Peter’s experience we can discover why he and perhaps ourselves arrive at an occasion where we weep bitterly knowing we have failed the Lord Jesus.

Let us begin on the Mount where Jesus revealed Himself to Peter, James and John in His glory. Moses and Elijah were there also. Seeing Jesus in this way provoked Peter to believe that Jesus was about to establish the throne of David in Jerusalem at that time. That is why he wanted to erect booths. The Father’s response to this was to exhort the three disciples to listen to Jesus – “Hear Him” He commanded.

In the days that followed we discover that Peter and the other disciples had selective hearing. They did not understand what Jesus was talking about when He told them plainly on three occasions that He must suffer, die and rise again but they essentially ignored it. On most things they did not understand they asked Jesus to explain or clarify it for them but on this saying of Jesus they did not.

When Jesus shared the Passover with the Peter and the other disciples He mentioned again that He must suffer (Luke 22:15) and three times mentioned that He would be with them in the Kingdom (v 16, 17, 30). But what was on the minds of the disciples? They were discussing which of them Jesus spoke of when He said that one of them would betray Him (v 23) and then, unable to resolve that question began disputing among themselves which of them was the “greatest” (v 24).

They were not listening to Jesus. Their minds were still filled with the wrong explanations and understandings of Scripture. So when the Scripture was fulfilled in their presence they totally misread and misunderstood what was happening. Peter cut off the ear of one who came to take Jesus away. No doubt he intended to cut off more than an ear! Imagine the confusion in his mind when Jesus replaced the ear. He followed as they took Jesus away.

Peter was convinced that he would die to protect Jesus and his actions demonstrate that he meant it and would carry it out but when Jesus didn’t act as he expected he fell to pieces in confusion. He had not been hearing what Jesus had been saying and this lead to him denying even knowing Jesus. “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter” (v 61). That look pierced Peter’s heart until the risen Lord later restored him.

If we do not want to be in that place where Peter found himself; denying Jesus and weeping bitterly, we need to be hearing what Jesus says. Hearing not just the audible sounds but believing to the point of living them out.

Events in our world today shout out that that the Day of the Lord is not too far off. If we have heard Jesus we will not be surprised when, in the twinkling of an eye, we are in His presence face to face.