Written on 8/25/21
So this is the story all about how I believe I found the Word for the Cure on my current… everything.
It all started with a text. On August 18th, someone special to me who served in Afghanistan who had looked the Taliban in the eyes felt conflicted on the exit strategy that recently took place. Shattered by the brutality of women and the evil so rooted in the men’s eyes, young men’s eyes, ingrained in their society. Was it inevitable? We’re we making a difference in the first place?
That same day, my aunt told me to read the book Jeremiah, however, I was set on reading Isaiah. Alright, Song of Songs then because He will tell you what to read if you let Him. So let Him. My birthday rolled around and my grandma gave me a book written by a man sur-name Jeremiah. Okay, I’ll read Jeremiah. Are you paying attention? In order to know where to go, I suggest reading the map. Maps have signs.
Discernment, there are good signs and bad signs, wisdom is key. I read the first 17 chapters of Jeremiah after my birthday and journaled about six pages of verses relevant to our current pandemic. Here’s the summary. Wicked, wicked, wicked, disaster, disaster, destruction, lament, lament (lament means a passionate expression of grief or sorrow), and how many times is that word for the cure mentioned in this book?!
Do you fly? We all know to place on oxygen first then to assist others. Breathe. In mathematics we are taught to solve the what of the problem? How many of us feel exhausted by the psychological warfare going on around us?
To receive Blessings instead of Curses, I need to uproot my own wickedness. Are you paying attention? Why did she text me that as her response and within three days two signs to read Jeremiah? Root. Rooted in their eyes. Go read Jeremiah 12 to understand what I’m talking about. This is an interactive blog and it’s not going anywhere, please go read.
Jeremiah 1:10 - See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and demolish, to build and plant.
What I’m seeing all over, on both sides, and of any issue soon to be divided by scrambled or sunny side up, is in order for change to occur I should go to my own personal rooted issues. Let me give you an example, as a millennial I can testify to the elders that initiating the participation trophy was the hands down worst decision to implement. For me, it ceased and desisted any kind of drive, motivation, excellence, effort of any kind, growth, a strive to learn, be better… nope just show up. Then the gall to label me an “entitled” generation. Ha! Hysterical, but hey I forgive you.
Every Action has a Reaction, Newton’s third law. One could argue that the participation trophy was love. We love you no matter how bad you suck. Is that the right definition of love though? Can we see how the effects of almost everything is having on our culture? Our Society? Our Health? And yet it’s easier, more convenient, to turn a blind eye than to admit I have sinned and ask for forgiveness.
When the Lord is speaking to Jeremiah to repent in chapter 15:19 he says,
Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
If you return, I will take you back;
you will stand in my presence.
And if you speak noble words,
rather than worthless ones,
you will be my spokesman.
It is they who must return to you;
you must not return to them.
In a nutshell, can I return? Can I be driven to know Jesus? Motivated to sober up and start walking his path. Can I shoot for excellence, try with an effort, grow as a person, strive to learn how to mature, be better? Has anyone else been just showing up in their life without any real soul searching or reflection for accountability lately?
I was a wicked Christian. I did not help the cause, just coveted the beloved participation trophy. Can I be forgiven? In a matter of weeks, my family can attest that I have surrendered my old ways, repented, and now I'm starting a blog, a business, volunteering without PTO bribes, I'm reading for pleasure, and I hang out with Grandma! No therapy, no rehab, just Jesus. It’s that simple. No wonder Voldemort keeps trying to overcomplicate things.
The word Repent is the activity of reviewing one’s actions and feeling contrition or remorse for past wrongs, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better. Be accountable. Wait, can I really return?
Go to the Root. Start at the beginning. Break it down. Solve the problem. Find the Easter Egg hidden in my existence? What’s my purpose?
Did you know that it never says days used to be 24 hours when God created Earth? Did you know that it wasn’t an apple? Did anyone find their why in Genesis? Can I go to the Root and Uproot whatever wickedness is preventing me from moving on because imagine what I can do with oxygen!
Imagine what Afghanistan would be like if the evil rooted within those men was uprooted. Would be a whole new world. What can you uproot to change the world? Start at the Root!
Writers Note Added on 2/18/22
I had this post planned for today since I went to Target and purchased a 2022 wall calendar to schedule the releases of my blog walk for the new year. Ironically, today was the finale of the Jeremiah Challenge that I embarked on where we read the whole book of Jeremiah 4x in 28 days. After I wrote the above post in August and only made it to chapter 22, I quit because at the time it was too intense for me to finish. How funny the Lord is to bring about this opportunity to revisit this delightful root.
Now having finished the book, the message still rings true and I can say that some serious uprooting has been happening over the last six months. His consistency is key. This is also exactly six months from when he delivered me from my drug habits. Look for The Second Breakthrough later on in the season to see how the LORD God Director changed my movie genre.
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