(A small 4"X6" painting done by my husband's Aunt Nettie Wade. Brings me joy.)
My heart has been heavy lately. Because of numerous things. Many things that are predictably normal happenings such as losing older family members and friends of my age getting diseases that may take their lives before too much longer. At our ages things like that just normally begin to happen. But some of the things that lay heavy on my heart are things that seemingly should not be happening. Heartache and hurt brought on by selfishness or insecurity or jealously...you name it, people use it to hurt other people. The bottom line though is that all this heartache is brought on by sin....mine, yours, theirs. For after Adam first sinned in the Garden of Eden it has been all down hill from there. Sin is what caused our bodies...and minds...to to get sick. Sin is what causes all the problems in this old world.
This morning I woke early and instead of going back to sleep I began to read in Isaiah 61. The first few verses there spoke to my heart and I began to feel such a comforting peace descend upon me. Isaiah 61:1-3 says this: "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God: to comfort all that mourn: To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified."
Good tidings preached. Wounds of the brokenhearted bound up. Liberty given to captives. Prisoners set free. Mourners comforted. Beauty and the oil of joy instead of the ashes of mourning. And A GARMENT OF PRAISE in the place of the spirit of heaviness! All of this so that the LORD might be glorified!
Our Lord Jesus Christ wants us to have joy in Him! ("the joy of the Lord is your strength"...Nehemiah 8:10) My prayer today is that myself and any of you reading this who are also heavy hearted will begin to experience our wounds being bound up, liberty given to captives and prisoners of satan's stronghold, and the oil of joy being poured on our heads in the place of the ashes of mourning!
To get this healing started I believe it's important to get into an attitude of PRAISE! (have you heard the song that says "It's amazing what praising can do!"?) And then I believe that in all of this, the LORD will be glorified! And that, you know, is why we were made in the first place...for His glory! "for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him." Isaiah 43:7
My prayer today for you my friends and for myself, is that we will put our eyes on Jesus and let Him give us the joy we need! For we can have His joy even on the days when tears flow from our eyes! He is worthy of our praise! "God did not die merely to save our souls, but to empower us to live in a way that would glorify God right here on earth!" (quote by Dr. Henry Morris)
May God bless you!
Marilyn
5 comments:
This hit home for me as I have been heavy hearted of late. A dear friend passed away Friday night and three others are in the hospital or have gotten to go home. Seems like sickness and death are all around us but knowing that God is in control makes it easier to get up every morning and praise Him. thanks for your blog. Martha Greer
Thank you so much for this post Marilyn. I try to not get the root of bitterness built up but some of my family is so outrageous in their treatment that I get feeling sorry for myself. It's just satan doing his job 24/7. I really needed that!
It's been a month now since we've moved. In that time, I've rediscovered my heart of worship. This is a healing time for my soul, and I'm so grateful to God for this gift of renewal. Indeed, from mourning to joy!
Beautiful thoughts, Marilyn. I'm blessed by your continuing witness.
The journeys of sadness grief that we take in this world will be a distant memory in the next. I know they are unavoidable here, but oh, how I long for there. This is a beautiful post, Marilyn.
Thank you. I needed this tonight. I've had this open since much earlier today, but only stopped to read it now - and this was when I needed it the most. "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace."
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