I decided to write this blog as a “just in case”. You might ask just in case of what? Well, as we all know, I would think, this has been a time of circumstances and situations we as a nation have never gone through. The affects are not just now, but may well change forever how things are done. Much has happened that can or will change who we are as a nation going forward, and I say that again because it is I believe profoundly true.
I pray for many that I know and for this country daily. I am bothered and in some ways angry about what I see and hear happening around us.
You might remember this from a recent blog when I commented that I recently was on a social media site and there was a video that caught my eye. So I paused to watch and listen. A woman was in the video sharing a response to someone who had asked why she felt the way she did. Her response was simple but so profound. She said “I’m tired…” she then continued to tell the other person why she felt the way she felt. Because she was tired of all that was happening around her. Things needed to change because what was happening wasn’t working not only for her but for everyone. It was one of the most common sense things I had heard or read in a long time.
So I have come back to finish this blog after events that will now and possibly forever change who we are a nation. This is written from a perspective that wonders how we have come to this point as a society. Listen, everyone has, is and will sin. So this is not about sin, but about how we as a society deal with each other.
I have always had a confidence that people when they know the truth will do the right thing. However, I also know that is not always the case. We are flawed as a people. I am reading in Proverbs and it begins by declaring in the opening section of The Beginning of Knowledge that-
1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,
3 to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;
4 to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—
5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,
6 to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
So Solomon declares in the 7th verse that it is the fear of the Lord where the beginning of knowledge is found. He also declares that fools despise wisdom and instruction. What does that tell us? What does that tell you about yourself?
The understanding regarding the fear of the Lord is important. Should or would we humbly bow before Him in fear of what He might or could do? Well, that certainly is something to consider. However, the understanding is actually that of a holy reverence as to who He is for He is the God of creation. Were it not for Him and His desire to make man in His own image we would not even be here.
How did we get to the place we are today as a world, a society, as a nation. We again have some insight into this in chapter 3 when Solomon writes in verse 5-
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In the second part of the verse he says do not lean on your own understanding. There you have it. The place where this has everything going wrong. Man has and continues to lean on their own understanding. It can be an outright wrong understanding but as we seem to be learning more frequently that their own understanding is contrived in order to have control over others. Not in order to help others but to simply to have control.
I heard someone who expressed this thought so well. Power is only found in being able to say no. There is no power in saying yes. This is true in every facet of life. That is why we are seeing tremendous problems today. Man has and is rapidly turning away and even rejecting the Lord.
Should we be surprised? When we consider this from our own point of view we say yes we are surprised. The surprise is in what is happening can affect our individual lives and lives of those we love. We shouldn’t be surprised though from the standpoint of God, His Word and the plan He has for the future.
Growing up in a Christian home we were always hearing about this world and the one to come. We learned we would either die or Jesus would rapture the church. Either way because we had personally accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior we would be with the Lord. All of my life I have believed this and lived a life accordingly. Let me just say that it is bad out there. I can say I cannot recall a time in my life when things were this bad. I’m not talking about wars, gas lines, presidential assassination and many of the other things that have occurred in my life time. Through them all we have survived but only by the Grace of God. Not by our own understanding but because many believers were reminded of Proverbs 3:6-
6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Acknowledging God and praying for His continued mercy and grace. That is what we must continue to do today. As believers, we cannot throw our hands in the air, shout with disgust and give up. I think this is a good time for us to be reminded of a very familiar and important verse today. 2 Chronicles 7:14
14 if my people who are called by my name 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.
In chapter 6 we find the prayer of Solomon when the Temple is dedicated and he asks God to do exactly what God agrees to in this verse. Here is the proof from verses 12-14 of chapter 7.
12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.
13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people,
14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
It it’s important to understand that God doesn’t make bad things happen just to be doing something. He does allow things to happen and it is not His choice but the choice of man. How bad can this all get? It can get a lot worse and in the short term but if my people who are called by my name 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. He might also lean over to His Son and say “go get your church”.
In God’s Grace,
Elbert Nasworthy
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