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Repairer of the Breach!

January 14th, 2010

“If you remove the yoke from among you,

the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,

¹⁰ if you offer your food to the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,

then your light shall rise in the darkness

and your gloom be like the noonday.

¹¹ The Lord will guide you continually,

and satisfy your needs in parched places,

and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water,

whose waters never fail.

¹² Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;

you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,

the restorer of streets to live in.”

Isaiah 58: 9-12 (NRSV)

My brothers and sisters my heart aches, as does yours for Haiti and the precious children that we have almost certainly lost in this tragedy. There is no simple platitude or statement that can explain it away or calm a sickened heart. Many Pastors and Evangelists have hit the air waves to try and explain why this happened or why God would allow such a tragedy. Anything they say is but hearsay and their attempt to speak for God. No one speaks for God, except for God.

While praying for Haiti God keeps giving me the words from Isaiah “repairer of the breach.” The only times these words appear together are in Isaiah 58. As I look at the context of the words it is saying that those who fast, who turn their hearts towards the afflicted and those in need that “The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your needs in parched places.” If ever there is a land that is parched it is Haiti. If ever there is a land that the Lord will guide Compassion International in it is Haiti. These words give me hope. I hope because I know that Compassion Haiti is led by godly men and women and that God has a promise to keep.

I am watching the Southern skies and I am waiting for the sky to light up because there is a light that is rising in the darkness, and it is the Church in Haiti. If ever there is a time for hope, the time is now. If ever there is a time to look away from despair and anticipate what God is doing, now is that time.

In Nehemiah we see the story of a man whose heart was broken for his people and who confessed, repented and fasted for his nation. In doing so he found great favor with the king, was given permission to go and rebuild Jerusalem and God was with him as he made some pretty audacious requests of the King. He was not a noble, nor was he a man of station. He was a food taster for the king. However, God used his humbled and repentant heart to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and in only 52 days. (Neh 6:15)

God is on the move in Haiti. God is using Nehemiah’s in all kinds of places. We may not see everything, we may be frustrated in our attempts to get good information, but God is in charge of it all. As we move from confusion and despair let’s make a conscious effort to be Nehemiah’s in our walk and move from mourning to laughing, from sorrow to joy. The pain we see in this life is only a temporary event. Joy truly does come in the morning.

~Selah~