Leaving Empty
8/30/19
Every human being has experienced the loss of something
or someone that they have desired or loved and when this experience arrives
there is no greater feeling than the emptiness of such desertion. It does not matter which circumstance one
wishes to include in this setting, for when anyone leaves a place without the
desired thing sadness accompanies these people.
God never meant for us to feel such pain and personal agony over things that
are no longer viable yet we are continually inundated with such
activities. However, we do not have to
live under this permanent separation pattern, if we only keep God first in our
lives and proclaim His mercies every day, we are guaranteed the assurance that
He shall never leave us no matter what our physical outcome may be.
Lamentations
3:22-23
It is of the
Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed,
because his
compassions fail not.
They are new every
morning: great is thy
Faithfulness.
Being in the medical field for quite some time and even
being mainly involved in rural hospital settings, my eyes have witnessed the
world in action numerous times enough to know that there is nothing good that
the world and its lifestyle offers.
While not every bad setting that I have been involved or have heard is a
result of a violent act, the toll that occurs on the human and their
surroundings does makeup such an ugly picture.
I wish the people leaving the hospital setting could leave with the best
of circumstances and with the good results they had hoped for, but I cannot sit
here and write to say these outcomes are true.
We cannot forget that there is a reason people visit the hospital or be
checked into its confines and it is in this contextual truth that often forces
us to reflect on our own lives as our loved ones and friends attend these
ventures. But it is always at these
crossroads that we arrive at that shape our hearts to what lies ahead for every
person who enters the doors of a hospital at some point no matter what the
outcome will be shall leave that building.
It is always a nervous placement when anyone goes into a non-secure
place and when that person places their lives into the hands of unknown people, the
tension and stress can be thick as a London fog.
Some of you know that it has been almost a year that I
left my hospital setting with a helicopter ride, unlike my two previous serious
travels from a hospital setting by leaving in an ambulance. My heart condition warranted such a move and for
the most part, I was not nervous at all about being cramped up in a flying oil
drum with two other people next to me.
Oh yes, God did His miracle work in that helicopter and showed me a few
onions that described the condition of many of our hearts and a sure connection
as to why the world is falling apart each second of the day. But that day was not all sadness with doom
and gloom for while I did leave the hospital in a transportation vehicle, that the vehicle did not leave the hospital empty and it this aspect of our lives that
God wants us to understand His mercies and His faithfulness. Not that these qualities of God are necessary
to have such results but for those who know God no matter if that
transportation vehicle leaves empty God has His child in His hands even through
difficult times.
When a circumstance of humanity provides such a setting
that requires deeper medical attention everyone knows that an unconventional
route taken to another facility cannot be good news. It is always worrisome for those left behind
and great fear and wondering to follow a natural course of action. However, as I stated above, when a person
leaves in such a vehicle, there is always hope that still remains but when our
eyes watch the stretcher be loaded without an occupant, the feeling of despair
goes deeper for it is then publicly known that the transportation vehicle has
no one on it to transport. Death on any
level presents a sorrowful experience and it hits close to our lives but the
question remains and the one all of us ask is: will we have joy and sorrow or just
sorrow fill the next few moments of our world.
This week our laboratory family was rocked with the news of the death of
one of our previous lab member’s husband.
While the younger and newer lab personnel do not know this gentleman, he
touched so many lives with his presence and graced our lives just knowing
him. Yes, it is a sorrowful time for
some but not too terrible for others and it is concerning to me to see the
difference between the two physical institutions.
The first words in this passage give us the reason why
all of us are still walking on this earth and why we have the opportunity to
experience life as we know it. “It is of
the Lord’s mercies” is a powerful statement and it defines the single reason
that we are allowed to take countless numbers of breaths each day and according
to this first part of this passage, it is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not
consumed and ever since that dreadful moment way back in the Garden of Eden
when sin was chosen over obedience, God had every bit of authority to wipe
humanity off the earth. So we are going
to take a closer look at a couple of words in this passage in order to give us a
better idea of what God does for us each day of our lives. When we look at the word “mercies” used here
it comes from the Hebrew word “hasde” is originally translated from the words
“loving devotion.” “Hasde” literally means goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and
supports and reinforces the truth when it comes to our continued existence
through the mercies and loving devotion from God. It is not because of what we have done that
gives us life but it is God who provides such gifts. It is this word alone that provides us with
the plan of God for our lives for He operates through holy and pure love at all
times. Yes, sometimes love is harsh and
cruel to the outward eye, but when a parent loves their child they will do
their best to protect the child from falling away from the guidelines that they
need to adhere.
A parent that demonstrates a loving devotion to their
child will never leave that child. They
may disagree with the child and advise against certain paths that are taken but
their love for that child shall never cease.
Also, a parent with a loving devotion sees that their child is on the
wrong path they shall always seek a way to convince their child that the path
that they are on is not right for them and that danger shall soon follow if
they do not change course. God cannot
just idly sit back and watch His children envelop themselves in disobedience He
must correct them as it becomes necessary, and this necessity comes when the
child blatantly fills their heart with disobedient heart songs that go against
every aspect of their Created lives. We
have previously discussed the word “love” and how the views of the world
distort and twist the Truth about love, for God is love and cannot represent
anything but eternal and holy love. Here
lies the key to this word and phrase, for if one who says they love yet does
not correct when the truth is varied from, they do not love they only lie. A lie, in short, is sin and sin, in short, is
disobedience from Love.
The second word that we need to discuss is the word
“consumed”. The first part of verse 22 gives us the reason why we are not
consumed; I absolutely love it when God gives us the answer to our questions of
“why” even before He addresses the question.
What do we think about when we hear this word being used? Right, food but just as it means for a system
of eating it also was used back in earlier days for a physical condition that
meant sure death, today that old word consumption means primary tuberculosis
and while modern drugs can relieve people of this nasty process it still
provides countless deaths around the world.
The word consumed here comes from the Hebrew word “tamenu” and has the
meaning of to be complete, completely, wholly, to be finished, and come to an
end. In short, the word means that death
will follow and all evidence of our presence wiped out from this thing we call
life. Now, there is no mention of
specific nations, groups, or tribes here and since there are no specific
mentioning of people it can be guaranteed that this consumed portion is an
eternal one and comes to everyone without exception. Remember, God is very specific when He calls
upon His authority to strike and if no specifications are mentions present it
can only mean humanity itself.
Interestingly, there is a word in the New Testament that
corresponds with this word “tamenu” and it is the Greek word “katakrima” which
means the punishment after a wrongdoing and this punishment is death. This Greek word means punishment following
condemnation which is defined to us in Romans 5:18 where it says that all of
mankind is doomed to condemnation. This
is not a coincidence folks; it is a guaranteed pattern of our existence that we
cannot escape. This also means that
until we accept Christ as our Savior and walk under His blood Covenant it does
not matter what we do, where we go, how we speak, how we sing, or where we live
for when we leave those instances we do so empty. In an existence that is consumed with death
on its physical and natural plane, it is a normal item for thinking with the
same mentality. You want to know why
this culture of our world today is so obsessed with death. It is because we have voluntarily chosen to
follow the god of this world and since the ONLY thing he can represent or give
is death, it is that result that we will desire the most. This is a scary position to believe in, Church, and we need to recognize RIGHT NOW that we have fallen into the world’s
trap by embracing such lies.
So, the second verse comes into play now with another one
of those beautiful words and this word here is faithfulness. It comes from the Hebrew word “emunateka”
which literally means is Your faithfulness and is translated to mean firmness,
fidelity, steadfastness, and steadiness.
Why is it so important that this word follows the other two words in this
trilogy of laws from God? It is because
they all follow each other in an unbreakable cycle that if adhered to by us
shall never be broken or tampered with for as long as we take a breath. It also means that no matter what, where,
when, do, say, think, or go we shall never leave empty no matter if we
physically walk out of a hospital without a loved one alive. If God did not place this word faithfulness here,
the first two words would be subject to corroboration with failure because
mercies and consumed are not words that go hand-in-hand and mean that mercy and
consumption are always at war with each other.
Therefore, God puts in this third word, faithfulness into the picture
and adds to it the eternal aspect with a descriptive word “thy” which directly
refers to God Himself. These three words
alone form an eternal cycle of compassion – another word in this passage – that
we cannot truly understand for we are of limited abilities with a very limited
mind and understanding which proves once and for all that we do not need to
rely on a failed system but one that is always correct, honest, true, holy and
eternal.
Sadly enough it is commonplace to see people’s lives end
without knowing the faithfulness and the mercies of God before they stand in
judgment; it is too late to understand them at that point. Yes, as their life is being presented in
front of them they shall be asked, according to their choices, if they accepted
the blood of Christ to cover them, most shall not have a clue to the answer. The word that we have not covered here that
appears in verse 22 is compassion, and God uses this word here because His
mercies are due to His compassions for His people. God knows we do not have the ability to
secure our eternity alone and He understands that if He did not have compassion
in the first place the Bible would have ended in and around Genesis 3:24. But even as Adam and Eve were being thrown
out from their house, God provided for them the eternal symbol of covering when
He made for them coverings from a sacrifice.
HE made for them, remember the fig leaves they made were not sufficient,
they were not sufficient during that time nor are they sufficient for us today. Only the words that are spoken and given to
us in Lamentations 3:22-23 form the eternal foundation that God has made for us
so that we may have eternal life.
When I first came to Colorado back in the early 1990s,
one of the families of the church here faced a heavy tragedy, and then shortly
afterward faced a more difficult tragedy.
It was a trying time for that group for these two losses touched many
lives and had long-lasting effects that still haunt them today. I was on duty at work the next day when I ran
into the paramedics that arrived on the scene of that horrible accident and I
heard them talk about what their eyes had seen.
There was no way possible that this person could have physically
survived they stated yet it was the next words that came from their mouths that
defined the opposite of the title of this article for they said that as they
were looking for personal information on the individual, they said that amongst
all the papers lying inside the car “Bible stuff” dominated the wreckage. These two Christian paramedics did not know I
knew who this person was and when I spoke to them and gave them a few general
details about him, tears swelled up in their eyes and a huge sigh of relief
came over them. One of them even stated
that she knew that the family would not leave empty.
The ambulance may have not transported a patient to the
hospital that day and I know that there have been many occasions where medical
helicopters have flown away empty as well but it is whether or not the person
and the family who are involved walk out of that facility empty or not that
matters. Tragedies are not the time for
people to silence themselves about the conditions of the hearts; it is a time
of reckoning that shows others who lived for Jesus and who did not. There is no greater tragedy than a person who
had no clue about or any relationship with Jesus for truly they left this world
empty. But for those who do know Jesus
and have a walk and relationship with Him, may still suffer sorrow but at the
same time have the confidence to know that Lamentations 3:22-23 just went into
eternal mode which is the completion of God at its fullest.
Okay Church, what is your response to this Word from God?
He has given this article to us for a
reason. It is because we have not
completed our mission properly to those around us who do not know God nor do
they have a relationship with Him or His Son.
We are the ones who are supposed to be telling people that Jesus loves
them BEFORE their bodies lay inside a casket.
It is our responsibility to shed light into the darkness, not dim the
lights to make them more comfortable and relaxed. We are to preach the Gospel to the dying
world, not speak softly or whisper so that they cannot hear. I do not care what you think about how I
presented this message to you, it came from God and His Words are eternally
true, not mine. While God understands
that billions of lives are lost every year who do not know Him, He also knows
that there are countless others who DO know Him yet do nothing to share this
eternal Truth to those that are lost. We
are so caught up in who is correct, which denomination is superior to all the
others, who have the least offensive sermons, or who has the best worship service. Can’t you see these physical and superficial
titles are such sin?!? Our hearts are
blackened and dark with worldly evil and God wants us to project and to tell
the world of HIS TRUTH NOT OUR TRUTH!
Repent, Church! It is time we
change our hearts and begin a new life account of Christ in this nation before
God has to set into motion another devastating supernatural event so that
revival can return again. Knowing the
mercies and faithfulness of God does not give us the authority to live as we
please in the world and then claim “grace” when it comes time to stand before
God. That is what Satan and his kingdom want
you to believe but since he is the father of all lies, that belief is a lie and
represents a body walking out of doors and leaving empty.
DLB
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