April 16: OUR GREATEST NEED: REVIVAL/RESTORATION

Standing like an enemy, [the Lord] has bent His bow; With His right hand, like an adversary, He has slain all who were pleasing to His eye; On the tent of the daughter of Zion, He has poured out His fury like fire. Lamentations 2:4

Jeremiah is presenting the irony of perceiving the Lord as the enemy when, in reality, the Jews had brought the devastation of their enemies upon themselves. They had pursued their own course for so long that, just as they were warned in prophecy, the Lord withdrew His restraining hand from their enemies. In a sense, these enemies became the Lord’s rod of punishment upon them for the express purpose of turning them back to Him.  

In the Hebrew mindset, everything that happens is attributable to God. They have rightly taught that God is in full control. And because of that fact, the removal of His hand of restraint from enemies equals the removal of His protective hand over His professed, but disobedient people. In this sense, He is portrayed by Jeremiah as standing “like” an enemy or “like” an adversary.

The Lord gave His people a wall of protection for their happiness and freedom. His Law, written in stone, is given that His people can live freely and safely, secure in liberty. Someone behind bars for stealing can readily see, in hindsight, that before they broke the law that says “you shall not steal” they enjoyed freedom.

The loss of liberty is a terrible loss indeed. Our God is ready to work on behalf of His forgiven people. Only He can transform His people into sanctified and trustworthy beings, fit for Heaven. A citizen living under His government has liberty and life.

It is Satan who constantly whispers that you will be happy and free if you break God’s law. God will never “make” us overcome Satan’s lies. He simply reveals Himself and His will in His word, and leaves the decision up to each of us regarding who we will believe and obey. For the souls who determine to overcome falsehood and live by truth, the Holy Spirit of God is right there with them imparting life as they overcome. The reality is that God is much more ready to lavish His Spirit upon us than we are ready to receive His Spirit.

As our fallen world continues its downward spiral into utter chaos, it is becoming clearer by the hour that our greatest and most pressing need is spiritual revival; revival that leads to restoration. To be restored to the image of God, the process of character transformation called sanctification, requires the essential element of each person’s will for the work of the Lord to be accomplished within them. Without the exercising of a person’s will to align with the Lord, the character slides back into compromise and apostasy. We simply do not comprehend the gravity of our sinful nature or God’s readiness to rescue.

Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” Lamentations 3:22-24 (see also John 20:22)