Friend and fraternity brother posted the following thought on FB recently. I added a couple bracketed comments to it:
“America… God’s incredible miracle….Under attack! A call from Almighty God to humble ourselves!
1st gut punch to [the security of our nation]…9/11
2nd gut punch to [the health of our nation]…COVID-19
[3rd gut punch to the economic stability of our nation…lockdown every business]
[4th gut punch the heart of our nation…Social-Cultural Upheaval]
When will we acknowledge our ways before God?
2Chronicles 7:14 “Humble yourselves… turn from your wicked ways….I will heal your land.”
_______________________
Two people can experience the same tragedy in life but have two totally different responses. One may shake his/her fist in the face of God and curse him, turn their back on him. The other may fall to his/her knees and seek for God’s mercy, grace and deliverance.
This is a time for personal reflection. What is my personal response to what God is doing in 2020? Here’s a sobering thought from the Psalmist, David:
“O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you? Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies.”
It would be so easy for David [for ME] to sit back point fingers and judge everyone else. BUT…David continues…
“Search [ME], O God, and know [MY] heart; test [ME] and know [MY] anxious thoughts. Point out anything in [ME] that offends you, and lead [ME] along the path of everlasting life”(Psm 139:21-24). [1]
It’s not about everyone else. “It’s me, it’s me O Lord, standin’ in the need of prayer.” This is about how I am living MY life.
It is not my place to point my finger at the Church or the world around me. It is for me to be on my knees interceding for the beautiful but often wayward and complacent Bride of Christ, his Church, of which I am a part. It is for me to be on my knees interceding for a broken, hurting, frightened, sin-sick humanity for whom Jesus gave his life on a cruel cross.
Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”(Mat 11:28). King David said, “Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” (Psm 50:15)
ONE TRAGEDY, TWO RESPONSES: Turn a back on God or humbly seek his forgiveness and grace. Lord, may I choose the later. May I humbly put the good of others ahead of my own. May I make the good of thy kingdom my priority. I am weak, but you are strong.
The fate of the world is not yet sealed. God is long suffering with men (Romans 9:22-25). Final judgment has not yet been fixed. While the world may be crumbling around us, the mission of every follower of Christ remains unchanged. The mission of the church is to point men to the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
I am asking God this day to make certain my faithful witness to a lost and confused world. It’s not my job to judge or condemn the church or the world. That is too easy. It is my job to intercede and to witness. It is my job to encourage the church and to share hope with the world. It is up to me to be obedient to what God asks of me.
I don’t know that we have faced as turbulant times as these in 2020. I have personally not seen such turmoil in America since the mid to late 1960s. I was on the streets of Detroit, Michigan during those riots. It was ugly. The images of those days are emblazoned on my memory. I pray the church today is quicker to respond than it was then. But in the 1960s, God was also gathering an army. The 1970s ushered in a powerful movement of God that brought a counter balance to the weight of the revolution of the 1960s. It was called “The Jesus Movement.” It was a cold drink of water in the fires of turmoil; a time of refreshing by the Spirit of God.
DO IT AGAIN LORD!
Lord, your return is near. It may be tonight; it may be yet a ways off. But I pray that there would be in progress, a great gathering of mission-minded young men and women. May they usher in a spiritual awakening that will sweep across the landscape of America like a great prairie fire. May the fires of revival be fanned with the inexhaustible wind of your Spirit in churches across this land. May there be an in gathering, a spiritual harvest, of souls, the likes of which America or the world has never seen. May there be a healing in the hearts of men that will stand the test of time. If the Lord shall tarry, I have my eye on the rising sun of 2025, 2030. What shall be the outcome? May it all be to the honor and fame of your holy name, O Lord.
No matter what, God remains sovereign!!!
[1]Brackets added for emphasis
The Prayer Sentry 