CALLING FORTH WAILING WOMEN

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." Gen50:20 ESV

For everything that I have endured as God’s servant to get to where I am in Christ today, I am grateful. Because through every situation I gained knowledge, understanding, wisdom, patience, strength, and compassion. Through my strength and compassion, through my testimony, through wisdom, and through the fulfillment of my purpose, people will be saved.

For some time now, I have been literally weeping over the violence taking the lives of women and children in all parts of the world. Shall we fold our hands and allow these predicaments to continue? Dead has come into our closed, who is the next victim?

All of this emotion was sparked by religious and political spirit. I'm sad about a promising life snuffed out, I'm angry that this isn't the first tragedy of its kind and I'm mad that our children aren't safe anywhere. I keep wondering when will things change and how will it happen? There has been demonstrated outrage from concern women, community residents and religious leaders. There were prayer vigils and public outrage but obviously they were in vain because our children are no safer today than they were then. All of my turmoil was flamed by the lack of mention or attention that is given to all these crisis on some of my favorite news paper and radio shows. We have the privilege of having entire ministries dedicated to the family and its preservation. But, somehow the crisis facing us doesn't even make the radar. Or it so seldom makes it that it really isn't worth mentioning. I've been crying out to God! What needs to happen? What steps are concerned Christians to take? For me another very real question is how do I ensure the safety of my people? Am I doing all of this loving, teaching and nurturing only to have my daughter go off the street and not return? I realize my thoughts have become irrational ramblings but to live so close to tragedy is sometimes overwhelming.

Let it be known that in spite of the killings and all atrocities committed by the enemies, there is still hope in the future of our nation. The confidence of this is found in the book of Jeremiah 31: 15 “Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not”,  and which was fulfilled when Jesus was born that despite the wailings of parents of slain children, in the midst of that agony, God made a statement of comfort in verse 16, “Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy”. Let us follow this simple step of wailing that will bring about our recovery.

Today I am calling for wailing women. Mothers who will lift up a shout to the Lord on behalf of our babies and our society as a whole. I'm calling for a few women who will humble themselves before the Lord and lament the crisis in our community and in the home front. I'm wondering if there are a couple of women who will fast and seek the Lord for the protection of children everywhere.

The Lord Jesus Christ said on the cross of Calvary to the daughters who stood by weeping with compassion at Christ’s agony. He told them, “…weep not for me, but for your self and for your children”.

THE CALL

          When a people’s king dies in a time of battle, it is a bad sign. It is time to cease all celebrations and mourn for certain days.

This has been the lot of the Church. So many Bishops, Reverends, Apostles, Prophets and Evangelists, yet only few are doing the work. Others have the title, the name, but they are only public success and secret failure; spiritually dead, yet, applauded by men as great ‘Men of God’ (M.O.G).

I could see a reproach coming upon God’s people, especially the ministers of the gospel. And there is an urgency to stand in the gap. Now to the call in Jeremiah 9: 17-22, it is God’s desperate cry to women at a time of emergency.

         

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:  And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.  

For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.  

Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.  

For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.  

Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them”.  

          When the Lord begins to call for women, the situation is getting out of hands and need emergent intervention. God was advising the prophet that the present emergency called not just for prayers but tears; not the tears of everybody but those of women, yet not all women but the wailing women; the mourning and cunning one’s.

          Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet, but the present situation was beyond a male tears. God needs a woman’s tears. The Lord said, “Send for cunning women”.  The term ‘cunning’ as employed in the verse means “skillfulness, dexterity or an architectural ability to produce something”. The Church has the ability to produce the life of Christ but we are at ease. Cunning speaks of mental adroitness, skillfulness in handling things, and been resourceful in dealing with problems. What God is saying in essence is that He needs cunning women that are imbued with grace to stand in the gap.

          Women’s tears have come in handy, historically to save people at critical moments. From several scriptures, it apparently appears that the Lord often turns to women as a last resort. This is because the situation is desperate, but also near breakthrough.

          “For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.  Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation”.  

                                                                                   Jer. 9: 19-20   
     

          God has designed that the older women shall teach their daughters and younger women wailing. He needs women’s tears as well as that of men. But women should take the lead, so the rest of men could follow.

          In the days of Esther, it was women’s tears that saved the Jews. Thank God for the prophetic sackcloth of Mordecai and the three days fasting of all the Jews – Esth. 4: 16. However, what finally brought the breakthrough was the wailing of Esther and her women warriors armed only with adroit mourning and tears.

          Esther did two things before the king that trigger my ego and propelled me to do likewise before the King of Kings.

• Esther falls down at the King’s feet.
• She besought him with tears, to put away the mischief of Haman. Esth. 8: 3.

Why did she humble herself in such a manner? The answer is found in chapter 8: 6, she said: “For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?”.

Beloved, how can we endure to see the destruction of our husbands, children and the Church? Where are the wailing women?  Who will sow in tears for the salvation of our land? Where are the pastor’s wives that would shed tears for the total deliverance of their husband from materialism, worldliness, and seduction of strange women? The scripture said, “… death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets”. Dead is coming into the Church, into your family, into your nation to cut off the young and the old. Who will stand in the gap? HIV and AIDs are sweeping half of the Church to the grave, who will wail?

Can you see how our mothers are now widows, and the young daughters losing their wedding songs. Why are many women in agony? Dead has come.

INNER QUALITY OF A WAILING WOMAN

          There are generally two kinds of women mentioned in the Bible. The first type is the one described in 1 Tim. 5: 6, “who lives in pleasure, who is dead while living”. To this category belongs the Jezebel woman of Revelation 2: 20-23. Such are not the type of women God is calling into His wailing programme. Although she may be found in the Church, even bearing the name Prophetess, she is not qualified for she lives in pleasure.

          The second kind of woman is an epitome of Serah. She is described in 1 Pet. 3:4 as possessing the two God-admired, unfading inner jewelries of “a meek and quiet spirit”. She is not a gay and gaudy or loud and lousy type, but a sober one: the woman of meek and a quiet spirit, on whose tears the salvation of the land has come to depend on.

          Take heed! If the Church will be thus visited with dead, what shall we do? Death has come up into the palace to destroy us. Daughters of Zion, arise and take a wailing. The world is waiting for our prophetic tears.

TEARS SPEAK

          Some of us may not know how to preach, teach, but even our weak tears can bring amazing victory. The Lord God will never forget those who invested their tears in watering the land for Him. At a time of overwhelming judgment, a mark of preservation was set only on two classes of people; those who sighed and those who wept over the iniquities of the land –Ezek. 9: 4.

A prophetic tears over the nation speaks powerfully. Hezekiah prayed with tears and God was moved to bless him. He says: “I have seen thy tears; behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years”, Isa. 38: 5.

In the days of His flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ over up prayers and supplication unto God with strong crying and He was heard – Heb. 5: 7. How much tears have you shed over the ruin of your loved ones? If God measure it today, can the tears fill a bowl? King David discovered in Psalms 56: 8, that God has a prophetic laboratory, where He stores our tears, then transcribes those inarticulate tears into words which are preserve in His book of record. That book of record echoed our voices of supplication long after we may have ceased praying or forgets that we have even pray. Read Rev. 8: 3-4; Psalms 6: 6; 39: 2; 42: 2.

May God record our tears for the nations and remember our lamentation in the days of visitation, Amen.

“Their heart cried unto the LORD, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.  Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the LORD: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children that faint for hunger in the top of every street.  

Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?  

The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied”.  

                                                                             Lam. 2: 18-21