What Really Matters

Read:

Lamentations 3:25-58

Reflect:

“But I called on your name, Lord, from deep within the pit. You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!” Yes, you came when I called; you told me, “Do not fear.” Lamentations 3:55-57, NLT

Queen Elizabeth served as a servant Queen for more than 70 years and lived a very fruitful life. Death is part and parcel of life. As the whole world mourns her death, I am reminded of the truth that we are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes.¹  People are like grass whose beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field beneath the breath of the Lord.²  But we can take comfort that though God brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love.³  

It is not how well we live but how we prepare ourselves for death so our lives can bear fruit in the generations that follow us.⁴  It is how we hang on to our faith in times of suffering and sorrow. Times of adversities and tribulations are times to examine our ways – to turn back to God in repentance. When we do so and call on God’s name, God will hear our cry:

“But I called on your name, Lord, from deep within the pit. You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!” Yes, you came when I called; you told me, “Do not fear.”⁵

The writer of Lamentations reminds us that God does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow. There are spiritual laws and consequences for breaking God’s laws. The writer of Lamentations drew attention to God’s justice that is manifested through God’s anger and judgment against injustice and evil. The good news is that in the face of disease and death, we can put our hope in God’s redeeming love. God is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him – to sit alone in silence and wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.⁶

There will be times when we struggle to find meaning in suffering. However, even when our pain seem meaningless, God can use our pain to bring hope to others through our weaknesses and vulnerability for His power is made perfect in our weakness.⁷ Jesus died and rose from the dead to show us how much God loves us – that God is in Christ, we are in Christ and Christ is in us.⁸  We are to bring Christ to the world and the world to Christ:

“Christ for the world we sing, the world to Christ we bring
With loving zeal, the poor, and them that mourn, the faint and overborne,
Sin sick and sorrow worn, whom Christ doth heal.”⁹

Jesus Christ gave us the Beatitudes which are the keys into the kingdom of heaven – blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of heaven and blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.¹⁰  We are to seek the Kingdom of God in our todays and not to worry about our tomorrows.¹¹  What really matters is whether we are living as citizens of heaven in a manner that is worthy of the Good News about Christ –  standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for our faith in Christ, and making every effort to keep ourselves united in the Spirit and binding ourselves together with peace.¹²  For we are called to share in God’s Kingdom and glory.¹³

When God dwells in us through Christ, the Holy Spirit binds us together as the Body of Christ. We are empowered to live out His commandment to love another. When we are of one heart and mind, the world will see the love of Christ in us. Only then will the stories of our lives be of significance in God’s unfolding love story.

God is Love and Love is the presence of God in me. When I am full of myself, there is no room for Christ in my heart and there can be no fruit of the Holy Spirit. I can only overflow with love, joy and peace when I am emptied of my ego and filled with the Holy Spirit. We will be challenged to give of ourselves and to put our trust in God’s providence and God’s perfect will each day. That is why we need to pray every day, “Give us  this day our daily bread.”¹⁴ For blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.¹⁵

The discipline of prayer is to open ourselves to the kingdom of heaven in the here and now. We pray to enthrone Jesus in our hearts so that our hearts will be filled with the love of God by the Holy Spirit.¹⁶  With the death of Queen Elizabeth, the anthem of the United Kingdom has been changed to “God Save The King.” I felt led to use the following words as my personal anthem to remember that I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God:

God is our gracious King.
Our lives to Him we bring
God is our King

Christ’s reign is glorious
From sin victorious
With joyful hearts we sing our praise
God is our King

Respond:

Lord, be enthroned in my heart so that my life and death will bear fruit for Your kingdom.

Reframe:

1.  How does suffering and sorrow help me to live well and die well
   
2. What does it mean to live as a citizen of heaven?
3.  How does prayer help me to live in the kingdom of heaven in the here and now?

SDG

Notes:

1. James 4:14, NET
   
2. Isaiah 40:6-7, NLT
3. Lamentations 3:32, NLT
4. Henri Nouwen, Dying Well, 10^th Feb 2018
5. Lamentations 3:55-57, NLT
6. Lamentations 3:25-42, NLT
7. 2 Corinthians 12:9, ESV
8. John 14:20, NLT
9. Christ For The World We Sing
10. Matthew 5:3-4, NLT
11. Matthew 6:34, NLT
12. Philippians 1:27, Ephesians 4:1-4, NLT
13. 1 Thessalonians 2:12, NLT
14. Matthew 6:11, NKJV
15. Matthew 5:6, NKJV
16. Romans 5:5, NLT