Joy - continued ...
"Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be Thou my helper. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness. To the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto Thee for ever. Psalm 30:10-12
He is the only One who knows exactly how to support our weaknesses and leverage our strengths to give us life within the realm of the Favor of the Kingdom. He knows that the dust of the grave is praise less, and that His rescue and life giving activities can make us strategically noisy praise makers. With thanksgiving give great and loud praises of God's Amazing Grace.
Found within the starting passage is an amazing picture of the process of restoration ... A fall is inevitable; whether because of our lack that we choose to steal unattainable needs, or because of our ease in prosperity that we become self sufficient and we steal forbidden desires. The fall for believers ends up in the same narrow alley ... Guilt and shame and a need for cleansing; so there we mourn.
This is where we cry for mercy because He is the only one that has the HELP for our predicament: No human entity can set us free from the penalty of sin's fall.Glittering, flashing and deceitfully welcoming... Always ahead of them in the path of any sojourner, there will always be a captivating choice of direction. That choice, if scrutinized in the pre-adventure, would glaringly be found to be a seditious move of rebellion; but in that faltering moment of the flesh's weakness the choice usually is found to be a release.
Once the "high" of the moment has faded and fair weather friends have all slithered away, unfortunately, the fallen sojourner finds him or herself emotionally and spiritually restrained in a very dark and dismal alley. This alley filled with scars and sordid memories can potentially swallow up it victims and leave them helpless to hope. With hope gone all that is left is "the cry" for help from the Alley.
"The Cry" for the Believing Sojourner is a "God" moment ...when the cry is turned upward and Mercy is brought in abundantly by the Helper. The Alley of constraint becomes the altar for the exchange of "sack cloth" repentance for royal robes of forgiveness ... What was meant by the hater of mankind to be a conduit of execution, now becomes the stage for Redemptions Dance of Joy.
Oh wounded heart sensing your end... end your struggle here, and trust yourself to the merciful arms of Jesus the Redeemer.
The Cry at the edge of loss finds itself with rejoicing continued in the Alley of Joy!
HLFA,
Jeff