Turn again, O Jehovah, our captivity,
Like the streams in the south.
— Psalm 126:4
This verse is so poetic, yet so practical. We are all in an impossible situation. We all have the same nature. Everyone of us would agree, “I am such a difficult case. It is so hard for the Lord to know how to handle me.” As we follow the Lord, eventually we realize that it is not Satan, it is not the world, and it is not so many other negative things that capture us. It is we ourselves who capture us. We are all under the captivity of our self-life. That is why we become desperate. We tell the Lord, “How can You save me? How can You release me? How can You free me from my self? This is impossible!” But even as we say it is impossible we have an inward realization: “Lord, You can do this. Turn again. Turn again my captivity.”
When we truly see our captivity to ourselves, we will pray desperately, “Lord, I am beyond rescue. I am so terrible and so corrupted that it seems hopeless. But Lord, I cry out to You! Turn again! You have done miracles before upon me. You have brought me out of captivity before. You brought me into the church life. That was impossible, but You did it for me. Now, Lord, do it again! Turn my captivity! This time it’s so much harder. This time my captivity is not something outward, but something inward. Lord, only You can do this! Turn again my captivity, as the streams in the south!”
If we cry out to the Lord this way, then He will answer us. He will respond, “Yes, I will release you, but you must pay a price.”
Adapted from The Journey of Life, pages 62-63.
Tomorrow: “Sowing Ourselves Unto Death”