Tag: Misery

Posted on

Lens check.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast.” Proverbs‬ ‭15‬:‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I went to get my eyes checked because I thought something might be wrong with my eyes. It was getting harder to read small print up close, without adequate lighting. I thought, “oh, here we go, my eyes are going bad!” My optometrist checked my eyes and gave me the news. I braced for the worst. He said, “there is nothing wrong with your eyes.” I retorted in disbelief, “but I can’t see as clearly as I used to.” He replied, “yeah, your old and your eyes ability to focus get a little weaker, you just need some help with reading glasses.” I wasn’t going blind, I was just getting old!

Is it possible that our perspective, our mental, emotional lenses can effect what we see happening around us? The wisdom writers confirm, it can and it does. The ESV translation is accurate in giving us the original Hebrew version, “all the days of the afflicted (ani: poor, afflicted) are evil (ra’: adversity).” The perspective from those who are poor, physically and/or spiritually is ALWAYS tainted with adversity. From their lens, their daily picture of what life is and what life gives, is all hardship and trouble.

I see people, I talk with people who live this way. Even though they may not actually be physically or spiritually poor, their lens only sees bleakness and doom. I spend a few minutes with them and I’m depressed just listening to their litany of tragedy. I can’t talk them out of it, I only listen and grieve with them. It’s always the same perspective of misery.

Proverbs contrasts this lens with another view. The one who’s heart is happy. Isn’t that interesting. A happy heart is the corrective lens that is able to see differently. The cheerful (towb: beautiful, pleasant, agreeable) heart sees a whole different life. This heart sees a feast (mishteh: a feast), a party filled with friends, food and laughter. I also talk with people like this! They are usually upbeat and are so excited to tell me about all the good things that are happening in their life. How strange! The contrast and comparison is wildly different. Can I be honest? I don’t enjoy being around forever negative people. I feel it is my Biblical responsibility and pastoral duty to do so.

The miserable are ALWAYS miserable and the cheerful are ALWAYS cheerful? We know that can’t be true. There must be some good things that come to the despondent heart. And, conversely, there must be some bad things that come to the cheerful heart. But the lens, the perspective, seems to be radically different.

When I start seeing everything as trouble and adversarial, I need to get my heart lens checked. I will find that my heart is not broken, it just gets tired and overwhelmed. I need to get some “spiritual readers,” to help me focus and get clarity on what I see. My heart is the lens of my soul’s view of life! I need to tend to correcting its focus! God’s Word, the Holy Spirit and close friends are my corrective lenses. They help me focus my heart to get a Godly perspective of reality.

Prayer

Dad,
Who can know my heart, my thoughts, my motives better than you. When my heart is sad, my perspective is dark and blurry. But when I spend time with you, especially in Your Word and prayer, you comfort my heart, you lift my soul from despair. As I have learned from the Psalmists, I can be completely open and honest with my feelings, but ultimately I need help tweaking my lenses to see what is true, right and good. Thank you for tending to my heart which dictates my view of everything around me.

Posted on

Hope’s anticipation.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“How miserable I am! I feel like the fruit picker after the harvest who can find nothing to eat. Not a cluster of grapes or a single early fig can be found to satisfy my hunger. The godly people have all disappeared; not one honest person is left on the earth. They are all murderers, setting traps even for their own brothers.” ‭‭Micah‬ ‭7‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Certainly anyone who has read through the books of the prophets (spokespersons) in the Old Testament get a huge dose of reality.

Just a thought; there seems to be a constant comparison in modern days with the idea that one is either an extrovert or an introvert. But, there is another comparison not talked about yet is very apparent in our conversations. Am I an optimist or a pessimist? Do I live in a world that is awful getting worse, or a world that is good getting better.

The ancient prophetic series of authors are both – but the darkness, wickedness and harsh outlook always goes first.

This section title in most Bibles is labeled to reflect that truth. This chapter is titled, “Misery Turned to Hope.” I personally like a true assessment of the situation before even thinking about how God will show up and make everything right. Micah lets us know exactly how he feels! His illustration, his comparison, is like a field worker after the field has been picked over! There are no leftovers, not even the godly expectation of something being left on the edges for the poor.

Micah even tells us about a specific fruit that Jesus himself mentioned in a story about the cursing of a certain fig tree. Micah reveals the key to the fig tree curse. He mentions the “first ripe” or “early fig.” There is a fig that will produce a small “pre-fig” bud that is eatable but not that tasty. In Micah’s illustration it means that there is absolutely nothing left on the field, not even these pre-fig buds that the poor were sadly satisfied to pick and eat so they didn’t starve! In Jesus’ story, the fig tree was cursed because it was a complete fake, never able to produce ANYTHING useful, not even these pre-buds.

Micah’s illustration tells us that, in his opinion, his outlook – there was nothing left that looked like the people belonging to God. They ALL disappeared! He lost sight of what God calls, “the remnant,” or the “root of Jesse.” Even though Micah can’t see them, there are just a few who were still there, who were godly. Those who acted with justice and mercy.

Isn’t it interesting that the bar of spirituality came down to the level of how the Israelites treated one another and their neighbors? When looking for any signs of hope, the small threads of a remnant, God looked at their behavior towards each other and not to their behaviors towards Himself. Some were still bringing sacrifices, but God told them to stop because they were meaningless when even their acts of holiness betrayed them by poor behavior towards others.

If you want to see the hope at the end of Micah’s brutal assessment, then read the few verses at the end of this chapter. “Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people? You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love.” Micah‬ ‭7‬:‭18‬ ‭The only hope is that God forgives and restores – which even today, God is willing and able to do. Hope is not in anticipation that WE get better, it’s in the reality that God keeps His promise and gives us many opportunities to turn towards Him. Our hope is in our ability to really trust that God is as good as He says He is.

Prayer

Dad,
As I look over the state of our country’s spiritual health and your Church’s ability to be fruitful, making disciples, I also feel like Micah. What’s left? Where’s the harvest? Is it still coming? Will there be willing workers to bring it in? Our American fields look desolate. Yet, there is still something stirring. There is a sense of desperation and need. Not to return to former outpourings and glory days of big church attendance and some kind of political power in numbers. No, there is a growing hunger just for your presence. A desire to know that you would move on us, our cities, our brokenness. How desperate are we? I’m not sure, but I feel it coming.