There is a "Christian" song out there that claims that a Mama's tears and a soldier's desperate cries are "Better than a Hallelujah." I get the premise of the song...God does love a broken and contrite spirit...but this is one more step toward saying that we, as humans, are enough and God is just a prop in the world of self-seeking self-care.
Here is an unpopular opinion...WE ARE NOT ENOUGH.
Only God is enough, but humankind's plight throughout history has been to be a god. Go back to the garden with Eve...she didn't want to be like Adam. She wanted to be her own god.
Go back and look at the pattern of the Israelites throughout the Old Testament. Even though God gave them enough light to show them where to place their foot…to do the next thing… somehow, that wasn’t enough for them. That can help us understand ourselves…
Somehow, even though God has done wonderfully mysterious things, giving us instruction, direction, comfort, and above all, salvation from ourselves… somehow that isn’t enough for us.
Hallelujah though…
Hallelujah. That word means praise ye Yahweh…
This is a cry of submission...submission of your feelings as a tired Mama, an afraid soldier, a worn wife, a confused Church member...a broken daughter.
THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THAN A HALLELUJAH!!
PRAISE YE YAHWEH, EVEN THOUGH I cannot figure out where to put my foot.
Praise you, faithful God, that I can trust you when I am broken and vulnerable!
Does putting your foot on the vulnerable ground of trusting Him where He has placed you terrify you? Is God expecting too much of you to build the house, plant the garden, and live freely in the promise of His rescue or deliverance…the promise of His perfect plan?!
Has He said to you….
“Look…you are going to be here for a long time. HOWEVER, I will attend to you and
will confirm my promise concerning you to restore you to this place...
For I know the plans I have for you?”
Has He declared “plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope?"
Has He said….
"You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you?"
Has He declared that to you?!
Has He said...
I may allow you to endure Ignorance, fall to sin, rebellion, and self-sufficiency, BUT I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you?”
Has He declared that “[He] will restore you to the place from which HE deported you?!”
Read Jeremiah 29!! Read Psalm 107!!
Consider the position of the Israelites as you think about your own life.
Will you allow Him to bring you to a vulnerable place of peeling that will make you able to live out His character? Will you let Him teach you to make His Name your default cry?
You aren’t just the hands and feet of Jesus. You are a conduit of His love and forgiveness.
Your vulnerable transformation is a display of His goodness.
Not maybe…Someone IS watching who will then be given the chance to move out of their own understanding and lean into Him…to acknowledge HIM in all their ways (Prov 3).
They may not, but the result is not your god.
The One who keeps rescuing you from yourself…sanctifying, consecrating, DELIVERING…and loving you…He is your God. He is your guide through it all, and knowing Him is your goal.
THE GLORY OF GOD IS YOUR GOAL.
AND WITH THAT, YOU WILL SING...
HALLELUJAH EVEN THOUGH…
PRAISE YE YAHWEH. NO MATTER WHAT!
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