The walk of faith

Jeremiah the prophet was quite the manic-depressive in his day. Reading just a bit of Lamentations makes me well up, as well. Jeremiah must have bled the prophet's self-insurance dry, taking the HMO for all it was worth.

Sentences like, "I am one who has seen afflicted under the rod of God's wrath."
Sentences like, "He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation..."
Sentences like "though I call and cry out for help, he shuts out my prayer."
And especially like, "He shot into my vitals the arrows of his quiver; I have become the laughing stock of all my people, the object of their taunt-songs all day long."

The writer here appears to be completely devastated by God's actions. But amazingly, as the writing continues, the writer remembers the faithfulness of the Lord and praise breaks out ..."But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope; The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

"The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."

This pendulum swings back and forth, back and forth, higher and higher, lower and lower. The writer here sees God as being good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him and sitting "alone in silence" will bring a good result.

What are we to make of this?

"It is good for one to hear the yoke in silence. The Bible says, 'I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit; you heard my plea, 'Do not close your ear to my cry for help, but give me relief. You came near when I called on you; you said, 'Do not fear."

First, the walk of faith has ups and downs. Oh that we could make the pathway straight. This morning as I meditated on what I would write, I saw John the Baptist kicking rocks out of the way of the Son of God as He walked the path of righteousness into Jerusalem. Mark says that the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ is this: See, I am sending a messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way; the voice of one drying out in the wilderness: Prepare teh way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

John was a fore-runner of the Christ. He came to proclaim the one who would come after him. John did, exceedingly well.

Second, the walk of faith is a marathon, certainly not a sprint. In the Old Testament, the pouring out of God's Spirit is sometimes a sign or a means of God's salvation. Here in the initial stages of Mark's gospel, John calls the people of God to repentance -- not just a feeling of regret but a whole new way of living.

Third, the walk of faith is powered by God the Father, filled with the Holy Spirit and washed clean by the blood of the Lamb, the Son of God, this man named Jesus.

That's who we are and whose we are. It gets no better than this.