Languish No More…

My 30 day listening quest has ended, yet I listen. Each day I get up and there is a passage I am buringing to read, read, listen. Lectio Divina, the practice of wholly listening. This is day 5 listening on my own without a script (the book Enjoy the Silence, A 30 Day Experiment Listening to God by Maggie and Duffy Robbins). Ohhhh the joy I am finding in my listening. I have only uploaded today’s entry, words and am writing about today’s listening time.

Today’s passage was Jeremiah 31: 1- 14. Read here:

The Lord Will Turn Mourning to Joy

31 “At that time, declares the Lord, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”

² Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
    found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,
³     the Lord appeared to him^[a] from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
⁴ Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
    O virgin Israel!
Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
    and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.

Again you shall plant vineyards
    on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant
    and shall enjoy the fruit.
⁶ For there shall be a day when watchmen will call
    in the hill country of Ephraim:
‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
    to the Lord our God.’”

⁷ For thus says the Lord:
“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
    and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
    ‘O Lord, save your people,
    the remnant of Israel.’
⁸ Behold, I will bring them from the north country
    and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,

among them the blind and the lame,
    the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
    a great company, they shall return here.
⁹ With weeping they shall come,
    and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them walk by brooks of water,
    in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for I am a father to Israel,
    and Ephraim is my firstborn.

¹⁰ “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
    and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
    and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
¹¹ For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
    and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
¹² They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
    and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,

over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall be like a watered garden,
    and they shall languish no more.
¹³ Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy;
    I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
¹⁴ I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
    and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
declares the Lord.”

I read this, listened to it read, and entered this into my listening journal.

Then I sat back drank my coffee. The words, “I have heard your prayers, they are answered, languish no more,” rolled through me. Tears ran down my face, “Lord I do not know what I have prayed for, thank you.” Again, “I have heard your prayers, they are answered.” I sent text messages with my journal entry to the names He presented in my mind. I listened again to the passage by audio as I worked around the house, each time drawn to the passages,

They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
    and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall be like a watered garden,
    and they shall languish no more.
¹³ Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy;
    I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
¹⁴ I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
    and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
declares the Lord.”

I got into the car driving, visiting my family, running with Gus. As I was driving again the words “The Lord says, let those who have ears, hear. They shall laguish no more.” At one point I actually typed the words into my phone so I would not forget them. “I hear you Lord, I receive Your words. I will languish no more. I will listen, I will obey, I will share Your words,” was my reply. Then I stopped at Lake Michigan, got Gus out of the car and went for a run, listening to His words as I ran. Over and over Jeremiah’s words in chapter 31:1-14 rolled through me. Each time I stopped, to take a picture it was on the words, “and they shall langush no more.”

I wanted to run more, further, “write, go home and write” rolled through me. So here I sit writing, honoring Him with words, processing my listening. Before I wrote I looked up the definitions of languish, languishing and listened to Susan Pierce Thompson (SPT)’s vlog on the Brightline Eating website on languishing, reread the article from New York Times, “Feeling Blah During the Pandemic? It’s Called Languishing“, printed it out, revisiting as SPT recommended.

What I found was the defintions of languish is 1) to lose or lack vitality, grow weak or feeble, 2) suffer from being forced to remain in an unpleasant place or situation. SPT defined it as the absence of well-being. Languishing meaning faling to make progress or depression. Oh Lord I know so many laguishing with the weight of the pandemic, COVID, other ailments, Ukraine war, life is lifey right now for so many, me included. Lord, we have been languishing. Again, the words, “the Lord says let those who have ears hear, they shall langish no more.”

Dance, shout with a loud voice, praise Him. Listen to the water break against the rocks,

“With weeping they shall come,
    and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them walk by brooks of water,
    in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,

their life shall be like a watered garden,
    and they shall languish no more.
¹³ Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy;
    I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.”

Languish no more. He has heard our prayers.

May you lean into Him, know His love. Find nourishment and listen to His words, they are alive, fire within our souls. Oh He is a good God. He loves you, knows the number of hairs on your head, walks and talks every step of the way. Step into His embrace, know His stillness and love. Be well, love to all!

ML