It started when my sister got home from her choir practice.
Actually, it started before that.
In case it hasn't been obvious from my blog, I'm getting really tired of winter. And cold. And snow. And ice. It's really easy to be depressed in the winter. The cold does strange things to your mind, like making you wonder if drowning is a really pain-free way to die...OK, so I'm not suicidal,but it is frightening because you can see how people with no hope or truth can despair.
But despair is a sin. And it happens. Even to the children of God, when that familiar demon perches on your shoulder and starts whispering. The children of Israel had very good reasons to despair in Isaiah. The prophet foretold that they would be captured by the king of Babylon and 130 years later, what God predicted happened. Imagine being seized from your homeland, made a slave in a foreign country where you were forced by threat of death, to worship false idols. You would be wondering if God remembered His promise to you. If He even remembered you...if He cared. But He had already ordained a means of escape, even before the tragedy occurred. He had Cyrus, king of Persia conquer Babylon and allow the Jews return to Jerusalem. All of these events were foretold 200 before they happened, and were planned far, far before in Eternity.
Because the Truth is, God never forgot the children of Israel. He comforted them and upheld with the right hand of His righteousness. His plans and visions for Israel never changed, even in the midst of discipline, because His relationship with them was a covenant relationship, and nothing, nothing no kings, or powers, or sin could ever change His steadfast LOVE. And still that remains today, because we are in a covenant relationship with God through Christ:
Actually, it started before that.
In case it hasn't been obvious from my blog, I'm getting really tired of winter. And cold. And snow. And ice. It's really easy to be depressed in the winter. The cold does strange things to your mind, like making you wonder if drowning is a really pain-free way to die...OK, so I'm not suicidal,but it is frightening because you can see how people with no hope or truth can despair.
But despair is a sin. And it happens. Even to the children of God, when that familiar demon perches on your shoulder and starts whispering. The children of Israel had very good reasons to despair in Isaiah. The prophet foretold that they would be captured by the king of Babylon and 130 years later, what God predicted happened. Imagine being seized from your homeland, made a slave in a foreign country where you were forced by threat of death, to worship false idols. You would be wondering if God remembered His promise to you. If He even remembered you...if He cared. But He had already ordained a means of escape, even before the tragedy occurred. He had Cyrus, king of Persia conquer Babylon and allow the Jews return to Jerusalem. All of these events were foretold 200 before they happened, and were planned far, far before in Eternity.
Because the Truth is, God never forgot the children of Israel. He comforted them and upheld with the right hand of His righteousness. His plans and visions for Israel never changed, even in the midst of discipline, because His relationship with them was a covenant relationship, and nothing, nothing no kings, or powers, or sin could ever change His steadfast LOVE. And still that remains today, because we are in a covenant relationship with God through Christ:
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the LOVE of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39
Sometimes things seem worse than they are. But we always have this triumphal declaration to hold up above our heads..."MORE THAN CONQUERORS!"
So while contemplating these things, and the praise that the children of Israel offered God for their deliverance, my little sister came home from choir practice with a new song. Anna is learning, "Hava Nagila", a traditional Jewish song and dance of praise. She has been flitting around the house singing it and playing it on the computer for two days now, and try as hard as I can, I can't get it out of my head. But that's OK, because it makes me smile. I wonder how long this song as been around, and how long God's children have sung it in praise to Him. The words are:
Hava nagila, hava nagila, hava nagila v'nismeha
Hava neranenah, hava neranenah, hava neranenah v'nismeha
Uru, uru ahim! Uru ahim b'lev sameah!
Let's rejoice, let's rejoice, let's rejoice and be happy!
Let's sing, let's sing, let's sing and be happy!
Awake brothers! Awake brothers, with a happy heart!
If this song doesn't make you smile and want to dance, then there is something wrong with you!
LET'S REJOICE!
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