Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of the group Hillsong singing … It Is Well With My Soul, written by a remorseful Horatio Spafford, who had lost all of his children in tragedies; but was able with his wife, establish a Messianic ministry in Jerusalem called “The Overcomers”
Highlight Passage Romans 9: 3 [ESV] …
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,[a] my kinsmen according to the flesh.
… Tho called to reach out to the Gentiles, Paul had great feelings of remorse for His fellow Jews.
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Highlight Context - Romans 9: 1-5 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul’s deep empathy for His fellow Jews
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Reference Passage #1 - 1st Kings 19: 4 [ESV] …
4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
… Elijah prayed to die. God said “No!” and Elijah moved on to serve God.
Reference Passage #2 - Nehemiah 1: 4-11 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Nehemiah, with great remorse for the survivors in Jerusalem, prays for God to restore the Temple and attend to His people.
Reference Passage #3 - Jonah, Chapter 4 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK …
… An angry, confused and depressed Jonah prays to die; but God’s mercy saves those in Nineveh and sets Jonah right.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Mart DeHaan, raised the concept of “survivor’s remorse” in his devotional for today, which, of course, is when someone survives a tragedy and others perish or are permanently injured, the empathy of a survivor causes him/her to feel great emotional pain, guilt, or even deep depression.
And ODB author DeHaan raised the feelings Paul felt for His fellow Israelites found in the highlight passage for today - see Romans 9: 1-5. But this highlight example is not the only example of a type of “survivor’s remorse” in Scripture. Actually there were quite a few, including Elijah’s collapse under the broom tree in 1st Kings 19: 4; … and … Nehemiah praying for God to use him to help restore the Temple in Nehemiah 1: 4-11; … and … Jonah fleeing God and and being swallowed by a big fish in his confusion over God saving the Ninehvites. All of these OT “men of God,” and others, like Moses, Job, King David, and Habakkuk, were - at times - overwhelmed by states of confusion, emotion, and even depression involving their life circumstances; but ultimately, they came to see God’s mercy, love, and kindness in helping them to be restored to serve The Lord again.
Obviously in our lives, there can be circumstances where loved ones die unexpectedly or perhaps they are tragically injured, and we survive or are spared; and the grief can be almost unbearable. However, as Horatio Spafford experienced in writing the above linked song about the loss of his children, Spafford and his wife were able to trust God, seek His healing grace and mercy to move on in faith. And that’s what we must do if/when we survive horrible circumstances … to allow us - in faith - to move on, trusting that God is truly in control and believing in the truth of Romans 8: 28 … that ALL things do - in fact - work for the good for those who love God and are the called according to HIS purpose.
My Prayer Today: Oh Lord, … help me to trust You when things seemingly go “bad” and I can’t see Your “good.” Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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