There is an old adage that goes…
“When confused and in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!”
I am not sure what good this does. When you have expended all of your emotional energy, the issues or situation that caused your reaction is still there.
We have all been there at one time or another. Maybe your personal crisis or breaking point has been financial, health, family, employment, or the loss of a loved one. Maybe it has been one that I haven’t mentioned. But the common denominator in all of this is that we all have been touched at one time or another by a crisis.
We now are facing a common crisis as a nation. It may or may not touch us personally but I am sure that you have already faced fallout from it that has impacted your life. Maybe you have gone to the grocery store and found empty shelves or you have had your doctor’s or dentist’s appointment cancelled. Maybe, you have not been able to visit a friend or family member or your job has been placed on hold in the midst of everything going on. You are spending more time watching the news and cheering for the job that government is doing or firm in your conviction that it is just another thing that they have messed up. Maybe your hope has been peaked because they said they were going to send you some money…
But, my question to you today is… “Where is your hope?”
In the midst of all this, the Lord is still seated on the throne. Maybe this is a wake up call to our nation and to us…
2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
I believe that this is a call for a national revival and repentance. But, if we as a country don’t get it, how about us as individuals and churches?
My devotional reading today contained this passage from Deuteronomy 30:15-18: “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess.”
Sounds like a lot of doom and gloom doesn’t it. But, I believe that it is time for us to quit playing at church and Christianity and rise up to really exalt the Lord in our lives today. Whatever we face, the Lord is still seated on the throne and He expects us to live everyday for Him. That means it affects the decisions that I make, causes me to want to spend time reading His Word, and spend time with Him in prayer for our nation, our president, our leaders, our church, and for each other.
If, there is anyway that the church can help you today, please call us. Also, don’t forget to be faithful to the Lord and the church in these difficult days.
Remember,
I love you and am praying for God’s blessings upon you during this very unique time in our lives.
Pastor Mark