Hebraic Musing - How do you respond to Brokenness?
How many
things do you see that are broken? By
that I mean things that are not the way they are supposed to be? And a follow-up question – What should be
our response?
What brokenness
do we see around us? For example:
·
Marriage and gender
definitions being distorted;
·
Wars and hostilities in Iran,
Israel and other atrocities in the Middle-East and around the world;
·
Unborn babies being killed;
·
Injustices and lack of
integrity in political, sports, business, news media, etc.;
·
Addictions to drugs,
pharmaceuticals and obesity, etc.;
·
Declines in church
attendance and the meaningfulness of church;
·
Cyclical perpetuation of
poverty in various ethnic groups;
·
Degradation of morality in
our culture emanating from the media, entertainment arena and elsewhere.
Do these
issues cause you to be emotionally upset? If “Yes”, that’s okay. I’d be worried if we did not become
emotionally upset when we see that something is wrong. If it does not bother us emotionally, then we
have a different problem!
Does our
emotional upset-ness cause us to be spiritually moved to seek God for an answer? Are we seeking direction to find out “what does
God want us to do about it”? Confession – All too often I find myself second-guessing
what someone else should be doing about it!
David called
on God when he realized his own brokenness – “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take
pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices
of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O
God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:16-17 NIV Maybe we need to experience “a broken spirit; a broken and contrite
heart.”
And Jesus said something very similar in the opening words of His Sermon
on the Mount – "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.” Matthew 5:3 NIV The
words “poor in spirit” could be better translated as “distressed in spirit”. The word “distressed” has more significance than
the word “poor” since we should be “distressed in our spirit” over some of the
things that we observe that are just plain wrong.
From this, it
would seem we might feel helpless, so we might give up and finally call on God;
waiting for Him to solve it. I think
that avoidance is an incomplete and irresponsible response. Shouldn’t we also seek God for the direction
we need so we can take some action?
Maybe we cannot solve the whole problem ourselves, but what can we
do? What action(s) are available
and doable? Are we willing to simply
accept the fact that things around us are wrong, or are we willing to take
ownership of our part in a corporate problem and seek God's guidance? And then be ready to take action!
How often do
we simply take the news about that wrong situation and republish it to show
others that we are aware something is wrong? Was that our desire to share grief? Or, were we seeking to get somebody
emotionally and then spiritually involved toward a solution, or working toward resolution?
“Woe to
those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the
multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do
not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.” Isaiah
31:1 NIV
Points to ponder
Worse yet, have I given up
on the possibility of a solution? Did
we forget –
“I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me.” Phillipians.4:13
“Trust in the LORD with
all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
♫ I will call upon the Lord, For He is worthy
to be praised. ♫
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)” Weekly “Hebraic Musings”
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