Thoughts for another day

February 22, 2007

Today's verse: Lam. 2:19. Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street. (KJV)
(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)

In moments of great affliction, great anguish sets in. The heart is filled with sorrow and grief. We pull out all stops and do whatever we can to stall the disaster facing us. We put our all into it because at that time, our senses know the situation needs our best.

I was watching a talent show on TV recently, where two persons were eliminated. To console them, the anchor narrated a story, you might have heard. It goes: Once a young man set out to find God. He met many sages and other renowned people whom he asked where God could be found. He got varied answers and he tried everything but didn’t meet God. Finally, he heard of a great sage and decided to go to him, though he dwelt in a remote place. The sage welcomed him and asked him to stay with him. For a whole year although this man asked and asked, the sage would not tell him where and how God could be found which frustrated the man. One day as he and the sage were walking along the edge of a river, their feet in water, the sage suddenly grabbed the head of this man and pushed it under water. The young man splashed vigorously and tried to free himself causing much tremor in the water till the sage released him.

The man took a big breath then turned and asked the sage, ‘why?’ The sage, calm as ever, asked him in turn, ‘When your head was under water, what was the one thing you wanted most for which you struggled so much.’ The man replied, ‘Air’. The sage then said, ‘because you wanted air so badly, didn’t you use all your strength and mind to get it? That’s how it is, when you seek God. Do likewise and you’ll find Him.’

The anchor wanted to say that if you have a goal in life, you must struggle to meet it, which echoes the essence of today’s verse. My friend, in a desperate situation, involve God. Hold on to His feet; don’t let Him go. Pour out buckets full of tears through the night. Let me tell you, before dawn arrives, your answer will arrive because as you cry out, God casts His glance toward you. As you cry more, His heart moves. You cry more and He weeps with you and then His hand is lifted in your favor. For God cannot bear the anguish of His children and He answers. Look at the people who got their prayers answered by Jesus: The Syrophoenician woman, Bartimaeus…all because they refused to budge, but held on. Remember, God holds your faith in high esteem and your tears in His bottle. Your answer follows, naturally!