Mazur Manor: Then & Now

Jessica Mazur
Jul 14, 2019
4 min read

I sit here reflecting on the past couple of years in this house. I've been scrolling through "before" photos of our home, comparing them to photos I have of it now... thoughts surfacing in my mind about the journey I've begun to learn contentment. My heart longs for full restoration... for completion. I see no tangible forward progress in my life and wonder, 'God, did you not place this desire in my heart?' then followed by 'why won't you fulfill it?' and 'are you done with me, Lord?' Scripture tells me that my feelings deceive me, for my heart is deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9), and the Lord's understanding surpasses my own (Isaiah 55:8-9)! I find that in my moments of discontentment, I have a choice to make... hope in contentment, or despair in dissatisfaction. In those moments, the Lord is drawing me to Himself, pursuing me, and revealing to me, that the only true satisfaction I will find... will be in Him.

My summer Bible studies have covered Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther... all books, I'm learning, that address the faithfulness of God. The Israelites long to be home. The Lord stirred their hearts up for Him, and commissioned their hearts to desire the restoration of His kingdom.

Seventy years prior, God's people were in a bad state. They were led by bad kings, they disobeyed the Lord's command that the land be given a shabbat every 7th year, among other acts of iniquity... The Lord warned them of where their disobedience would lead. He was persistent in drawing them back to Himself. He was unrelenting in providing new mercy. But despite all this, for yeeeeearrrssss they continued down the path that led the opposite direction, believing everything other than God.

The Israelites found themselves in the midst of the very prophecies that the Lord had given them through Jeremiah, the prophet. EXILED. Hopeless. Weary, under the rule of other nations. Their city was destroyed and they were no longer able to serve their God with the practices originally instructed them; something they took for granted before... Until God stirred the heart of King Cyrus of Persia to build a house for the Lord. Cyrus, a pagan king, took the charge of the Lord seriously - he sent those Jews, whose hearts the Lord had also stirred, back to their homeland, with all the resources necessary to start rebuilding and restoring.

Thus, we find ourselves in the introduction to Ezra. Throughout the books we see various events, leading the Israelites up, and down, and up and down. Building, then barriers, building, then road blocks. Hope, and fervor, then despair, then hope again...

When, Oh Lord, will you bless our hand?

Sometimes, I find myself in this very situation. No matter the circumstance, it's the same trajectory. When you're walking strong with the Lord, you've got a pep in your step and a confidence that moves mountains... but the moment you feel His presence has left you... that His blessings have run out for you... where does that leave you? Discouraged. Discouragement leads to dejection. Dejection leads to despair. Despair leads to Demoralization.

How do we stop this downward spiral?

In Lamentations we find Jeremiah... well... lamenting.

1 I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; 2 he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; 3 surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long.

4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; 5 he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; 6 he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago.

7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy; 8 though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; 9 he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; he has made my paths crooked.

(Lamentations 3:1-9)

and about half way through the passage, he then writes...

19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! 20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. 21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;b his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

(Lamentations 3:19-24)

You see... Jeremiah knew the secret to reversing the spiral... the secret to sustaining hope... it is to REMEMBER.

Remember the times of your life where you experienced closeness to the God of Heaven and Earth, the God over all, the Lord of your life. Remember how he has prospered you, rescued you, and promised to you many times over... For the word of the Lord through Jeremiah also says,