Text: Matthew 21:1-11, Psalm 118:19-29, Revelation 7:9-12
As humans – as limited beings – we experience most of life “in the moment.” Sure, hindsight is 20/20, but when it comes to foresight, we can be blind as bats. We have no way of knowing for sure what will come next. And more or less, we process our lives as they happen, building one experience on top of another.
In the flesh. In the moment.
Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13:9-12, describes this as seeing in a mirror dimly, but “when perfection comes,” we will see the whole scope – like it’s right there in front of us.
I try to picture Jesus, fully man and fully God, looking at the crowd that was shouting, “Hosanna!” at Him. He had the ability to be all in that moment and to receive their feeble worship, but He also had the scope of eternity through which to view this moment. He could also see and hear pure worship of the angels and He could have (even then) perfectly described the day when He will eventually receive our pure worship at His return – like it was right there in front of Him.
They cried “Hosanna” (a shout of adoration in the New Testament, but also found in the Old Testament Hebrew to mean “help” or “save, I pray” in Psalm 118:25). They threw their cloaks down and, as the donkey’s feet trod across the palm branches, only Jesus knew the full weight of what they were saying – what their cry of “save us” was really asking.
Only He knows the full weight of what we need when we cry out to Him today.
I picture the loving way He considered His children even then, even as He knew what was ahead – even as He knew that their cries of “Hosanna” would turn to cries of “Crucify Him!” in a matter of days.
I wonder: from His seat on the donkey, did His mind also go to that blessed day to come when we will stand before Him in white robes, His bride – all nations and tribes and colors and generations, proclaiming our salvation indeed comes from Him?
For now, to know Him better, the best we can muster is to look behind and ahead based on what His Word tells us – like we are looking at His face in a dimly lit, memory-filled mirror. And yet, we can be assured – just like He was thousands of years ago as He rode to Jerusalem to take part in the events that would utterly change the course of history – when we cry “Hosanna! Save us!”, He will.
When our hearts betray us like the crowds eventually betrayed our Lord – He still saves.
Hosanna in the highest! Salvation belongs to our God.
Beautiful!! Hosanna!!!
AnnaLee, oh my friend I am so very sorry for this terrible time you are having…..I could feel the anguish as I read your message…..I had the picture of the poem… footprints …God is with you, when you feel you are alone, He is there, hold on dear friend, hold fast to Him, He has promised to be with us, never to forsake us….
Lord I lift up this very precious child to you, meet her where she is Lord, and just wrap you loving, safe and encouraging arms around her….Lord I pray you let her know how truly precious she is to you, and that your hand is raised in victory…..victory over the hardened heart, the numbness, the tears that won't flow, whatever passed event that is holding AnnaLee back Lord, break that chain….BREAK it, that she will once again know the freedom you have bought us…..Will be praying for you dear one….God bless…x xxx
Amen and I'm agreeing with you in prayer for our sister AnnaLee.
Thank you, sweet Tina. The Lord is working here, and all of your prayers have been HUGE. I thank God for all of you here.
I'm going to be honest here.
I feel very full of anger, fear, and hopelessness… for some reason lately I haven't been able to truly absorb or believe with my heart the Love and Grace of God. I've been holding onto it fiercely in my mind, but my being is a brick wall to any truth, hope, or God's love… I cry out morning and night with seemingly no reply, asking him why I feel so numb, so hard, so angry and hateful towards myself, always asking for his forgiveness. I've become a pharisee, more interested in keeping up laws than people, and treating them badly in the process, which just creates shame in me. I've just figured that the "wrath of God" has been upon me right now, that He has me in a place, in a season, where his anger is easily brought about, where I'm being changed and if I don't stick close to Him I'll lose out on Him, slip off the wagon, be left behind… lately bible study has been me flipping open my bible randomly only to find passages about God's wrath on Israel or it's exile, of which I definitely feel is paralleling this current season in my life, and I seem to never get any relief, yet I never get angry at Him because I can't let myself do that, He's been too good in the past. Time alone with Him has been a place of burden, guilt, fear and anxiety, because I read although nothing in me wants to due to the hardness, so I get guilty and crawl away from it, only to feel condemned when I do soak up a few verses for not "reading enough," I am always failing and the concept of being relaxed around Him is completely foreign, hard to grasp… I'm in a tough spot, knowing that the Lord is my only embrace, and that I hate my life yet I have Him, my only good thing; but I myself am completely numb, rock hard to Him lately, so I'm hanging on in my head knowing that this is just a season, that He has not forsaken me, but my spirit suffers within me… It's Psalm 88. This cropped up A LOT today, and I get so bitterly sad (but never angry at Him) about my situation, because I feel like it's at least partially just where God has me right now… but a LOT of it is a lie that I've been trying to (sometimes failing, sometimes succeeding) fight off for months now that always comes back.
satan knows that God, Christ Jesus, is trying to work something marvelous in me this Holy Week, in this upcoming season, month… and this is him coming against me hard. I feel like someone violently punched my heart, brought it low, and has left it like that for days, a few weeks. So as I read this posting today, I sobbed inside momentarily, trying to cry, yet tears weren't able to really form and pour out of me; it was empty, numb, a hateful hardness. The emotion soon dried up and the hard heart became like desert soil again. I stare out at this post.
All I can do is cry out Hosanna. "Only He knows the full weight of what we need when we cry out to Him today." Lord, save me from THIS. Don't let satan rip away what you're trying to work in me. Hosanna. Save now. Sisters, please pray for me. This numbness is a sick, fatal lie that I can't fight off on my own.
Hosanna. I believe you can save me. Only you. Hosanna.
Lord Jesus, I ask for your healing grace for AnnaLee. Thank you God that she has not lost sight of you, that she clings to you in spite of the difficult season she’s in. Pour your loving mercy out like rain into her parched soul. Bring sensation and love and happiness to replace the numbness she feels. God, we believe in your goodness and graciousness and know it will bring her through this. Help her keep faith Father, and know that the best is yet to come. Amen
AMEN….
Thank you Lindsey. Your words are so needed, and your prayer is effective. I love all of you very much.
Praying for you friend….
Lord, I thank You that You are a God that sees us in our struggles and hears our cries for help. I lift up AnnaLee to you tonight and ask that You renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within her. Set her feet on a rock and give her a firm place to stand. Let her be reminded once again of your amazing grace and forgiveness and unfailing love. Lord, I thank you for being a God who softens hearts. You say in Ezekiel 36:26: "And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart." I pray this will be fulfilled in AnnaLee as she cries out to You. Amen.
Kari, beautifully prayed….AMEN…
Thank you, Kari. Your prayer is effective and hugely appreciated.
Precious AnnaLee. I have been so encouraged and blessed by your comments since starting SRT recently. My turn, sweet sister in Christ. I am so glad you poured out your heart today. This seems to be a very emotionally painful season for you. Can I share something with you? God's relationship with you is big enough to handle ALL the big emotions! Yes honey, even anger. And when you've dumped it all at His feet, He will look you in the eye and ask tenderly "Honey…is there anything else?" He cares that much, and is invested in this relatioship with you. What you shared resonated with a time in my life, and for me, was part of the journey to the healing of emotions! I am confident that your ABBA will see you through, too. I will be praying for you today and this week.
Tears. So many tears as I read everyone's messages. Thank you, Liz, for this encouragement. I'll keep this and everyone else's beautiful messages hidden in my heart forever.
AnnaLee,
If time alone with God is a place of anxiety, guilt, and fear, you must know this: anxiety, guilt, and fear ARE NOT FROM GOD. God grants us sweet godly sorrow and repentance that soothes the heart. The enemy loves to twist your heart with guilt, trying to nullify the grace of God, the sending of Jesus Christ, the covering of You with His holy robe of righteousness. Don't let him. Don't let him, sister.
It sounds like the enemy is attacking you when you try to draw near to God in solitude. I would strongly encourage you to find a mentor or sister who you trust and embrace community in this time, asking that they would pray with you and journey with you.
There's no need to go this alone… the enemy wants you to be isolated.
I would love to talk to you more about your struggles, as I've been through many similar struggles myself!
You are welcome to email me at [email protected] (-:
Thank you so much, dear friend. the enemy definitely is trying to attack during solitude, and your counsel is very encouraging; I'll be taking it, and I'll email you. Praise God.
Precious AnnaLee, I am just now catching up on SRT and found this cry that you posted here, and I just want to join Liz S in saying that, from experience, I know He can handle the anger, and sometimes we need to cry tears of anger. He is so much bigger than anything we can feel down here, yet He understands, because He was once one of us. If you need to be angry, be angry. He wants you to tell him everything that is happening in your heart of hearts.
Also, yes, find community, and go before the Lord with your sisters – have your quiet times next to each other, so that you can lean on each other if need be. He will bring you through it!
Thank you, sister. These words mean so much.
Thank you Jessica. Your words have always been an encouragement to me, as they are now. Praise Jesus.
Thank you all for coming together in the name of Christ and loving me. Your words have brought me to big, sloppy tears, and I want you all to know that they've been HUGELY effective; The Lord is doing a lot through them in my life, and after praying with family after posting this message, the enemy's attacks subsided. I definitely need to be in community more, as this season has been a lot of letting go of old friendships with hard times making new ones. Again, thank you all so much for simply loving and encouraging me… I feel that this body of women is my second home. Praise the Lord. I love you all VERY much.
Amen amen amen! The Gospel is so good. Jesus is so good. His care for us, sinners that we are, is incredible. It’s overwhelmingly good and largely just is too much. It’s too much! Yet it’s available and He is good. Praise Him!
My heart present in the Holy Week scriptures — what a wonderful feeling. I see myself along that road, watching and listening as Jesus directed His disciples to retrieve the donkey. I see myself in that crowd shouting Hosanna. I also know that Jesus sees me, clearly, among all the faces watching Him and He hears my voice, distinctly, among all the voices shouting to Him. Thank you, Jesus, for seeing me, hearing me, knowing me. Thank you for knowing fully what I need, even more than I know. You could have passed me by. You could have given me just a quick glance, just a polite nod as You moved on Your way down the road. I have given and continue to give You ample reasons to pass me by, to see me as a lost cause. But You didn't and You don't and You never will. You see deeply into my heart and soul and You never give up on me. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Forgive me, Lord. Teach me, Lord. Move me, Lord. Carry me, Lord. Live in me forever, Lord. Hosanna in the highest! Amen.
AMEN, Lauren C, what a beautiful prayer….I love especially the lines…. I see myself in that crowd shouting Hosanna. I also know that Jesus sees me, clearly, among all the faces watching Him and He hears my voice, distinctly, among all the voices shouting to Him…..so lovely……Blessings dear sister…..
Blessings to you too, Tina. Your words and prayers always mean so much. Take care, sweet sister.
You have no idea how much this has blessed my heart and spirit!!!
As I’m reading of the 1st coming, this devotional has placed a fresh revelation on the word Hosanna and what it truly means!!!
And as I’m reading of the first coming, my heart couldn’t stop but think of the second coming. Then I saw you had also included Rev 7 :) It topped the devotional like a cherry ok top!!!
God is so good! May He reign always!
I read in my Bible commentary that Hosanna meant "save now" or "save I pray"… My first thought was that they were in actuality asking Jesus to take over. They wanted Him as King of Jerusalem. Their hope was for CHANGE and DELIVERANCE from their present situation.
They had no idea He was going to be Lord of all!
Thank you Sisters for your revelations on the study today. Your meditation ( or mutterings as I have learned it can mean as well) guide me to a brokenness before The Lord like no other worship leaders ! Bless you and keep you and may Jesus continue to shine His light upon you. bb