I know I stated near the beginning of the month that I was going to refrain from trying to do exegesis during this month, and work a little more from my heart and experience, but I just can’t seem to help myself.
As often happens to me, during the sermon yesterday morning, at least for a few minutes, my mind took me off on a small rabbit trail and I thought it was worth sharing. Our pastor was preaching on Isaiah 40, and as most pastors often do, they focus on the end of the chapter about mounting up with wings of eagles, and he did an excellent job of taking it back to the beginning of the Old Testament where that terminology originally came from. However, my little rabbit trail kept me stuck at the beginning of chapter 40 which reads as follows:
Isaiah 40:1-2
1 “Comfort, oh comfort my people,”
says your God.
2 “Speak softly and tenderly to Jerusalem,
but also make it very clear
That she has served her sentence,
that her sin is taken care of—forgiven!
She’s been punished enough and more than enough,
and now it’s over and done with.”
(Message)
Obviously, what I am about to say is more of a year end post, but since there are only a limited number of days between Christmas and the New Year, and I have already scheduled another post for that week, I decided to post this one here. There are a lot of background and historical issues that play into the interpretation of this particular passage, however, I don’t believe that what I am about to say is out of line with this passage.
It seems very easy for so many people to continue to dwell on the past, the mistakes we’ve made, the hurt feelings we may have incurred, the issues that just don’t seem to go away. Maybe those issues are with your wife, maybe they are with a another family member, maybe they are with one of your children, maybe they are with a work colleague. It really doesn’t matter.
What I hear this passage saying to us is this, You have suffered under this issue long enough, use this time to quite punishing yourself; use this holiday season to know and understand, and begin to believe that you are not going to suffer over this issue any longer, or, as this translation says, “…and now it’s over and done with.” This isn’t just about talking to yourself; it is that, but it is about praying God’s peace over that situation, asking Him to open your eyes and heart to anything you may need to do to fix this situation; but then, if nothing is brought to mind, then continue to pray for God’s peace in your mind and being over this situation.
For younger/newer husbands, (say anyone married up to 15yrs): if this speaks to you about anything between you and your wife, please don’t try sorting it out with another female; whatever it is, it is an issue between you and your wife and God; start with God…continually ask Him over this week to show you where your errors have been, and to help you understand how to fix them, sooner rather than later. If you feel like you are going around in circles, then don’t be afraid to reach out to a good counselor, or your pastor if you have confidence in him/her. We all need outside help from time to time, as intimidating as airing some dirty laundry in front of someone else may be, the rewards of renewed and better relationship are more than worth it.
How does this post strike you? I would love to hear from you in the comments section below, either about how you handled this in your past, or the encouragement to do so now? Please get back to me? I look forward to hearing from you.