In the beginning, heaven and earth were all living together in perfect peace (shalom in Hebrew). Then the Fall occurred, and the perfect peace of heaven separated from earth, now left in a state of chaos.
That chaos flourished throughout the Old Testament, and God, in his mercy, reached down over and over again to intervene and make things right, ultimately sending Jesus, the perfect shalom, into our disorder. Jesus ascended and left us with the Holy Spirit, and he also inaugurated “the kingdom of heaven on earth” in which the perfect peace of heaven is present even within the chaos of earth. That’s where my citizenship now lies. It is where peace can rule. I am not yet in eternal shalom, but I have also not been left to suffer in the chaos.
Wailing in prayer is noisy. I can make a lot of noise and send it heavenward, but it is a bit like running on a treadmill. I might sweat, but I don’t get very far. In this passage, God asks, instead of wailing, for our hearts to cry out in sincerity. The cry of true confession changes everything. It’s like a jackhammer; it breaks up the ground Hosea will later call “fallow.” Confession gives a chance for healthy things to grow, healing to occur, and shalom to rule.
Beth Guckenberger is the author of Start with Amen: How I Learned to Surrender by Keeping the End in Mind. She and her husband Todd serve as co-executive directors of Back2Back Ministries. Adapted from Start With Amen: How I Learned to Surrender by Keeping the End in Mind© Beth Guckenberger (W Publishing Group), used by permission.
