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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion February 13, 2006 We are Just Sick and Tired of One Another. |
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FRONTLINE DEVOTION FOR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2006 by Fritz Foltz Isaiah 43: 18-25
I often wonder if that is where we are right now. God and we are just sick and tired of one another. At least that is how I read Isaiah’s passage. God recognizes his people are weary of him. They are weary of having to keep their relationship with him in order, weary of keeping his laws.
“Well”, God says, “ I am weary of you as well, weary of your continual sinning”. He is especially frustrated, because he knows what is good for us. As our creator he knows living his way is essential for our well-being. Or better yet, he knows we shall be miserable unless we keep ourselves in a proper relationship with him.
It’s a pretty tough situation. We hear it all the time with lovers. They claim they are just weary of one another, weary of living together, weary of always having to please the other. They have grown so sick and tired of each other, they have decided to break up.
Well, that is the human way. We just walk away when we get tired of a situation or relationship. We move on, looking for someone else who will do it our way.
God operates differently. He says he wants to start over and try again. He promises to forgive the past and do a new thing. That’s the way it is with God. He is always providing new opportunities.
That means confession is an essential part of the good life. That seems out of fashion in our modern church and world. People simply drift apart, because they refuse to look at ways they have broken the trust of personal and community relationships. They just give up and move on. We look pretty silly as we constantly make new rather misdirected attempts at love. We run amuck constantly seeking someone who will satisfy us, whether human or divine.
Confession gives us a means to start over. We confess we have sinned. In Lent we say, “I confess that I have sinned against God and you, my brothers and sisters”. When we acknowledge we have broken trust with each other, we make the first step to reconciliation. Actually God is always making the first move in his relationship with us. He constantly makes all new by forgiving us. That enables us to make our way back together as lovers.
Everyone one of us gets weary of maintaining our relationships. That includes the one with our Father, God who has created us. When you find yourself in that situation listen for Isaiah’s words. God says to forget the former things. He is doing new ones that offer new opportunities.
Let us pray: Forgive our fickleness, Father, our speed in moving on in our search for pleasure. Grant us the wisdom to keep our relationships in order that we might always live in harmony with you and our neighbors. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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