A New Season

It seems that all we have been doing this year is mourning.  Not only everything we lost by moving away from Vienna, but all that should have been had we stayed.  Combine that with moving back to my childhood home filled with all of the daily reminders of my dad and finally beginning to grieve his absence in our lives.  And finding along this journey that we have lost part of ourselves, who we thought we were and having to take time to redefine ourselves in a healthy, truthful way.

  

We also know that the pain is far from over.  We did cross a giant hurdle yesterday when we finally started back to school, but we have many significant barriers yet to cross.  And those little nuances that take you by surprise and drive you back into the depths of misery are always lurking in the shadows.  Sometimes it is comforting to know that mourning is a human condition that has occurred for centuries.

Several weeks ago, the speaker at our Church meeting discussed Daniel chapter 10.  In this chapter, Daniel is overcome with grief concerning the Jews who are still in captivity. He mourns, fasts and prays for three weeks.  We don’t really know what Daniel says in his prayers but his spirit was deeply moved for the well-being of his people.

And his answer comes in a most spectacular way.  A messenger is sent to Daniel from heaven and this is what he says “Do not be afraid, Daniel.  Since the first day that you set your mind to gain under-standing and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them….Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future…” vs 12, 14.

Today, in my own Bible reading, I found this amazing chapter in Amos where God is rebuking the complacent people in Israel.  He pretty much says, in the Channon paraphrased version, you guys stop laying around like nothing bad is happening around you.  Stop lying on your expensive furniture, eating sumptuous food, listening to the loudest music, drinking the tastiest wine and using the best smelling lotions while you bring a reign of terror on your people. You are supposed to be the most notable of the nation.  (This is in Amos 6 – please check it out yourselves.)

And then God says that His problem with these complacent people is that they “do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.” (Joseph refers to the Jewish tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim in this case.) Amos 6:6b

That took me completely by surprise.  God didn’t say, go sell everything you have, get up and do something.  He said grieve, mourn for your people.  Turn your heart to Me.  Stop looking to idols or humans for answers. I am the only One who can heal your people and I will do it in a way you don’t expect.

Daniel mourned for his people and God answered him.  This notable lot did not mourn and God said “you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end.” Amos 6:7.

I think it is time to begin a new season of mourning. This season requires me to turn my eyes away from everything that I have lost, everything that causes me pain and to look with my spiritual eyes at what is causing Him pain.  Then I must seek Him for the answer because only God is sovereign enough to stop sin and thwart the plans of the evil one.  That also means listening to what He is saying.  It means getting out of my comfort zone by being still and by reaching out to those around me.

To be honest, the prospect of this new season terrifies me.  Those that mourn spiritually, like Jesus when he cried over Jerusalem in Luke 19:41 – 44 and Daniel in the aforementioned text, tend to see visions and get prophetic words from heaven. And as much as we say that we’d love to see Jesus face to face, I don’t think I would survive that kind of encounter. 

 

But I truly long to see others as Jesus sees them. I long to see the world changed. I long to encourage those who suffer for their faith.  And I am tired of feeling hopeless, helpless and self-absorbed. But I can’t do anything that matters eternally.  Only the Holy Spirit can do that.  So I have decided that I will mourn, I will grieve, and I will leave the answers to the One who composes the entire story from before time to time eternal.