Afajita

“The time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” -Jeremiah 31:31-33

They were God’s chosen people, yet the Israelites were notorious for their rebellion against him. As soon as they were freed from slavery in Egypt, they forgot the Lord who saved them, prostrating themselves before idols in his stead (verse 32). Over and over again, the Lord showed mercy by sending prophets who spoke of his loving kindness as well as his judgment.

Jeremiah lived among people who were unruly and self-absorbed. Even though he urged them to surrender to the Lord, they continued to refuse. He lamented over their brokenness, sin, and impending judgment. Thus, Jeremiah’s deep anguish afforded him the title “the weeping prophet.”

Although my context in Cambodia is different than that of Jeremiah’s, I too have tasted intense grief because of the fallenness around me. Almost daily I face something worthy of such lamentation. Sometimes the feelings are unbearable—anger at those in power who continue to use their position to keep those under them in poverty and distress; distress over the fact that women and children sleep on the side of the road at night; outrage at people who sell their children to “adoption” agencies or into slavery and prostitution; pain in witnessing emaciated children begging for scraps of food or picking through trash. Every Cambodian family I meet has at least one member who has died or is dying of AIDS, and most have lost family members during the Pol Pot regime. Gambling, drunkenness, pornography, and domestic violence are commonplace.

Constantly, I battle between rage and sorrow. The gaping poverty is overwhelming, and I am left feeling hopeless. Most of the time, all I can pray is, “Jesus, please come back soon and make things right!”

As I meditate on the writings of Jeremiah, I sense that he too felt hopeless throughout his prophetic ministry. However, in the height of his anguish, he proclaims, “The time is coming…” This promise from God may have been the only thing that kept him going. There is hope after all.

Despite the fallenness of this world, there is hope that our Redeemer is coming. Despite my discontent and grief concerning the way things are now, I look forward to that time when all things will be restored under his Kingdom rule. Until that time, may God find me faithful to live out the power of his Kingdom in the circumstances in which I am privileged to serve.

Christ is King! May his Kingdom come!

Reflection and Prayer:

• What about the fallenness around you causes you to grieve?
• What changes or sacrifices is God calling you or your community to make in order to address these things that cause grief?
• How does trusting in God’s promise that “the time is coming…” help you to gain perspective and hope while waiting? How does such hope free you to surrender to the Lord and live out more fully his joy in the present?