Tuesday, April 28, 2015

WEEPING AND MOURNING SHOULD NOT BE OLD-FASHIONED


If we weep and mourn now, our unsaved loved ones might not have to weep and gnash their teeth in the future. 




The Bible tells us there is a time for everything under the sun, “A time to weep and a time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:4 NIV84). Nobody weeps just for the fun of it; there is always a reason. Weeping is the physical expression of grief. However, the absence of grief or the inability to express grief is not necessarily an indication that all is well. When the situation calls for grief, someone who does not grieve may either be ignorant of the facts or numb to the truth. Why do we grieve anyway? We grieve when we’ve suffered some kind of a loss, including times when things aren’t going as they should or as we expect. Jesus wept at Lazarus’ tomb, because Jesus was deeply concerned about Mary’s loss (See John 11:33-35).  
I wonder why the bride of Christ has not been weeping lately! Is it because we see no reason to cry? Is all well in the Church and in the world? When was the last time you wept for the Church or shed tears over the condition of the world, or even over your city alone?  I must not be looking in the right places, because it has been a long time since I saw real passion in prayer—where people are really heartbroken and burdened over sin and evil, the deterioration of morals! As someone asked, “Where did the passion go?”
On Ezra’s return to Jerusalem from Babylon, he grieved over the state of Jerusalem. The people, including the priests, were intermarrying with their pagan neighbors. Ezra was grieved. He wept, and prayed (See Ezra 9:1-10:1). While in Babylon, Nehemiah heard that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and its gates burnt with fire. He wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed (See Nehemiah 1:1-4). Likewise, Jeremiah, the Weeping Prophet, mourned and wept and prayed over the sins of his people and God’s punishment that resulted. When the Israelites were in captivity in Babylon, the thought of home made them cry over their plight:
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept.
When we remembered Zion
Psalm 137:1 NKJV
Daniel fasted, prayed, and petitioned God on behalf of his people Israel after he learned from the Scriptures what was going to happen to them (See Daniel 9:2-3).
Where are our tears? Have weeping and mourning become old-fashioned? Are they not needed, because all is well with the Church, our country, and the world? Is passionate prayer a thing of the past?
Allow me to jog our memory. Over the past decade, many things that made us frown, because we knew they were wrong, have been declared to be okay, and what used to be considered good is now considered evil. The Scripture says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20 NIV84). Aren’t we in trouble? Sure we are! When was the last time you wept over the state of your city, your state, or your country? When was the last time you saw another Christian do that? Weeping, for some reason has become strange, shameful, old- fashioned, and unacceptable. A few years ago at a prayer meeting, someone asked me if I was sniffling because I had a cold. How sad!
Folks, we have a lot to cry about! We need to cry over the condition of the world. There is increase in evil and general lawlessness, and there are all kinds of sin inside the Church. So why aren’t we crying? Maybe we are not crying, because we think nothing is wrong. Or is it that we don’t care? On the other hand, perhaps we are thinking that, because we are saved, we have no need to worry. Let’s remember that we have unsaved loved ones. Let’s not forget that our God is very concerned about all the evil around us. What else needs to happen before we care, before we mourn, or before we grieve? Nothing! What needs to drive us to tears is already happening.

Weeping and mourning are not as old-fashioned as we think or imply by our attitude. We need to weep in prayer, if we’d like to see God move and save souls. That is what must happen if we want a reduction in the evil that is plaguing our society! If we weep and mourn now, our unsaved loved ones might not have to weep and gnash their teeth in the future. 

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