As I began working on the 2022
Lenten series, “The Cry of the Heart,” I wrote these thoughts. They are the
beginning of the thinking to our Wednesday evening Lenten services. This is the
raw writing that presents the basic thoughts of this pastor as he began
developing a sermon series.
Why? That is the universal
question that is asked of God. Why did this happen? Why did You not stop the
shooter from going into the school? Why did my child get into drugs? Why does
my spouse not love me anymore? Why have bad things happened to me even though I
have followed Your will? So many "whys" as asked of God. It is the
cry of the heart that is broken, a life that is cracked, or crushed. Again
and again the cry goes out.
Within the world, as our lives
begin to break down, we hear the voices of those around us, or perhaps even
that voice inside us, that sounds like Job's wife after the kids have been
killed, the livestock taken, the material wealth has disappeared, followed by
the health going downhill until there is nothing to do but to sit in ashes and
scrape the sores on the body, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse
God and die.” (Job 2:9)
That is often the advice we get
from folks around us. Curse God and die. Perhaps it is not a physical death
that is spoken of by Job’s wife. To curse God could indeed lead to our
spiritual death. So to curse God does lead to our death, spiritually speaking.
That is the real goal of Satan as he attacked Job, was to drive a wedge between
Job and God. Take all the earthly, material items from Job, take his family, take
all he holds dear, and Job will curse God. Job will walk away from God, from
trusting Him, from following Him.
That truly is the focus of what
Satan tries to do to each of us; to lead us to curse God and die. So the events
in our lives are tragic – the loss of a love one; the slow crippling outcome of
a disease; the terror of loneliness; the emptiness of standing by a grace; the
sour words of a doctor with terrible news after an endless series of tests or
an unsuccessful surgery. All of these can be used by Satan to encourage us to curse
God and die.
But we don’t get there
immediately, if ever. Instead, as events happen, as the skies darken and the winds
pick up, the lightning flashes, and the waves break over the bow of our ship
called “life,” we look back on our Lord, asleep in the rear of the boat and ask
the question, “Why?” Why does He sleep? Why does He not do something? We rush
to our Lord, try to shake Him awake, and cry out to Him, “Teacher, do you not
care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38) What is going one? Why is He not doing
something? The boat of life is being swamped, water pours in with each wave, we
are bailing as fast as we can but are falling behind. The boat is sitting lower
and lower in the water, and Jesus sleeps. He sleeps. We forget the words of the
Psalmist, “At the set time that I appoint, I will judge with equity.” (Psalm
75:2) Or as Habakkuk writes, “The Lord answered me:…if it seems slow, wait for
it; it will surely come; it will not delay.” (Habakkuk 2:3)
As we get anxious, as it seems
the Lord will not be there or answer the cry of our heart as our boat is
sinking, He says to us, “Therefore wait for me.” (Zephaniah 3:8a) Isaiah knew
the cry of one who is needing the Lord to act, he was watching Israel self–destruct,
the people of God turning away, and he desired for God to act, to wake up, and
help the people in this critical time. Isaiah says, “I will wait for the Lord,
who is hiding his face from Jacob, and I will hope in him.” (Isaiah 8:17)
So, for each of us, crying out to
the Lord in the midst of our struggles, even as we cry out “why?”, can echo the
words of David as he writes, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart
take courage, wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14) It is not easy. We hear the
words, but we still cry out, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And
the Psalmist says to us again, “Our soul waits for the Lord, he is our help and
our shield.” (Psalm 33:20)
Why? As we wait in faith, we cry “Why?”
We do not understand the situation. It is overwhelming. It is difficult. It is
more than we can handle. The cry of the heart as the pains build, the
frustration overwhelms, the fears rush in like waters before the winds of a
hurricane, a tidal surge that threatens everything that we are. Why? Why? Our
eyes are filled with tears, our legs are giving out. We can relate to David’s
words, “I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I
drench my couch with my weeping.” (Psalm 6:6) Oh, if only the Lord would hear
my cry of pain! If only He could give answer to me in my struggles.
This Lenten series will put into
words the cry of the heart. It will lay bare the soul of the one who is
struggling in life. And then it will bring the healing words of God. Jesus,
rising up at the stern of the boat, says to our storms, “Peace! Be Still!” and
with the depth of love shown by one who came into our world, because human just
as we are, faced the pains, the heartache, and the loss even as we do, only to
take all we struggle with upon His shoulders. He carries it to the cross. That
is the focus of this Lenten series. The Lord knows. The Lord hears. The Lord is
with us. He hears the cry of the heart, and in His time, in His way, in His
love, He brings to us what we truly need!
Come, let us climb into the boat
together with the Lord. Let us face the storms together as we travel to the cross.
Know this, Jesus is with you in all you face. He hears the cry of your heart!
And He loves and cares for you.
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