Owning up

Very few of us like to own up to our mistakes. We find it easier to blame someone else and to shift the attention away from our short-comings and sins. However, this is only a deception and in the end, it doesn't do us any favours. When we lie to ourselves, we end up breaking our own hearts, as well as those of others around us.

Judah eventually owned up to her sin and cried out to God:
“Lord, see my anguish!
    My heart is broken
and my soul despairs,
    for I have rebelled against you." - Lamentations 1:20

A few verses before the nation was blaming God for all her troubles, but now the people have come to their senses. It must have been hard to uttered the words "I have rebelled against you!" 
I believe that this confession is the beginning point in bringing healing to the broken heart and the soul that despairs.

What do you think?

Living in Grace
D3LM3

It is all God's fault!

It is all God's fault!
God made this happen!
God hates me!
God has destroyed my life!

These are all words that people have cried out in their suffering. These may even be words you have thought or said yourself. When we reach rock bottom we wonder where God has been hiding. We wonder why God is punishing us or allowing us to go through these trials. These are the words of the writer of Lamentations:

“Does it mean nothing to you, all you who pass by?
    Look around and see if there is any suffering like mine,
which the Lord brought on me
    when he erupted in fierce anger.

¹³ “He has sent fire from heaven that burns in my bones.
    He has placed a trap in my path and turned me back.
He has left me devastated,
    racked with sickness all day long.

¹⁴ “He wove my sins into ropes
    to hitch me to a yoke of captivity.
The Lord sapped my strength and turned me over to my enemies;
    I am helpless in their hands.

¹⁵ “The Lord has treated my mighty men
    with contempt.
At his command a great army has come
    to crush my young warriors.
The Lord has trampled his beloved city
    like grapes are trampled in a winepress.

Do you notice those negative sentiments? The writer argues that God is the one who has sent fire from heaven to destroy his body and even set a trap for him. Why is this? Why would we feel this way?

In this story, the people of Israel had experienced their suffering at their own hands - they had turned their backs on God's ways and abandoned God of their own choice. So then, when things turned ugly, they asked God to bail them out, but God didn't react immediately. 

Why God does this I have no idea, but I understand the pain of the people.  They have seen the error of their ways and are trying to make things right, but it seems as if God is proving a point. I don't have a neat answer to this dilemma, except to offer the words of Jesus - the one who is full of Grace and Truth....

Jesus said:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Living in Grace
D3LM3