WOMEN of CHARACTER: RIZPAH: Grieving over Her Son…..from 2 Samuel 21 A mother’s love can make you do things you’d never expect---like sleep sitting up with a teething child or scream at the umpire who called your son out at third base. But some must do the most unexpected of all—stand at a graveside and promise to somehow go on. First, a Quick Read: During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.” The King summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them…..The Gibeonites answered him…… “Let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and exposed before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul—the LORD’s chosen one.” So the king said, “I will give them to you…..” He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed and exposed them on a hill before the LORD. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death during the first day of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning. Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds of the air touch them by day or the wild animals by night. 2 Samuel 21: 1—2a, 4a, 6, 9-10 When You Think about It: We live in a world gone wrong, one that was created perfect, but now suffers the ravages of sin: death, violated relationships, children born with disabilities and deformities, disease, man’s inhumanity to man, moral failures, tragedies of major proportions, chaos. It is, indeed, a broken world. But it is one thing to shake our heads at the mess the world is in; it is quite another to confront the reality of it in our own lives. One layer away, it is sad. But when it hits us, it is ominous. When we stand in the middle of a lifestorm, it seems as if the storm has become our way of life. We cannot see a way out. We are unable to chart a course back to smoother waters. We feel defeated—and broken. Will that brokenness produce a cynicism that will keep us forever in the mire of “if- only” thinking? Or will we yield up that brokenness to the resources of One who calms the winds and the waves, heals the brokenhearted, and forgives the most grievous of sins? The choice is ours. ---Verdell Davis What the mother sings to the cradle goes all the way down to the coffin. ---Henry Ward Beecher LOOK AT IT THIS WAY: A teenager opens fire in a crowded school, and young lives end on the playground of innocence. A rare disease causes a couple’s child to feel more at home in a hospital than in his own bedroom, until the day he closes his eyes-and goes home forever. The mother who must bury her own son or daughter comes the closest to understanding the love of God, the anguish of His heart, the cost of her salvation. And the woman who holds on through the storm realizes just how far God’s comfort can travel. CHARACTER CHECK: Have you shied away from those who are suffering, afraid you’ll say the wrong thing---or have nothing to say at all? Trust those who’ve been there. Your presence speaks volumes. Goodnight..........FB
Posted on: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 02:59:01 +0000
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