What is God Doing?
The world is reeling right now as we speak. Drought, wild fires, lawlessness, crime, gas prices, and economic hardship are throttling the planet. . So just what is really happening? What is God doing and why is He allowing all of this now?
These are legitimate questions and they are not out of the realm of possible answers or solutions. The fact is that God uses these very issues to get the attention of the world as well as the attention of His people. If we are honest we must admit that our world is fallen, wicked. and off course. Mankind is sick and the world is estranged from God because of our determination to forge a world without Him. This is not anything new and God is not going to sit idly by indefinitely while the world careens off the paths of His will for creation.
Many today are wondering what all of these events have to do with the book of Revelation and the ultimate fulfillment of prophecy concerning the Second coming of Christ back to earth as He told us. Some are trying to pinpoint particular prophecies which relate to that enormous world event that is yet to come.
But I have a different perspective I want to share with you today that I believe is more relevant. It's from a very well known passage in the OT which actually identifies with incredible clarity what is going on in our midst today. The passage is found in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14. It is actually a section of Scripture which God gave to Solomon upon the completion of the Jewish Temple in about 950 BC. At this time God promised Solomon the following, Listen to how eerily accurate this sounds in relation to what we have witnessed globally in the past few months.
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send sickness (pestilence) among my people, 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. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.
None of us need theological degrees to get the essential message of this text either for its original Jewish audience or for the secondary application of these promises to God's people perpetually. Churches all over America and the world need to get on their knees before the God of heaven and seek His face at this time in history. We need to humble ourselves, and recognize how far we have fallen. We need to change our direction regarding sin and the toleration of it in our personal and collective lives. Then God tells us to look to pray and seek His face. When we do that God has promised to forgive us and heal our land.
If during this season of life on our planet you haven's stopped and looked up perhaps now would be a good time to seek the God of your salvation. He is right here and He is eager to love you and forgive you for your sin. If you do not know the God of heaven He is eager to save you and give you new life through His Son Jesus Christ who died to give you eternal freedom from sin and its eternal consequences. This may just be the time God would use to draw His people closer and in the process save a multitude of others for whom He gave His life.
These are legitimate questions and they are not out of the realm of possible answers or solutions. The fact is that God uses these very issues to get the attention of the world as well as the attention of His people. If we are honest we must admit that our world is fallen, wicked. and off course. Mankind is sick and the world is estranged from God because of our determination to forge a world without Him. This is not anything new and God is not going to sit idly by indefinitely while the world careens off the paths of His will for creation.
Many today are wondering what all of these events have to do with the book of Revelation and the ultimate fulfillment of prophecy concerning the Second coming of Christ back to earth as He told us. Some are trying to pinpoint particular prophecies which relate to that enormous world event that is yet to come.
But I have a different perspective I want to share with you today that I believe is more relevant. It's from a very well known passage in the OT which actually identifies with incredible clarity what is going on in our midst today. The passage is found in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14. It is actually a section of Scripture which God gave to Solomon upon the completion of the Jewish Temple in about 950 BC. At this time God promised Solomon the following, Listen to how eerily accurate this sounds in relation to what we have witnessed globally in the past few months.
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send sickness (pestilence) among my people, 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. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.
None of us need theological degrees to get the essential message of this text either for its original Jewish audience or for the secondary application of these promises to God's people perpetually. Churches all over America and the world need to get on their knees before the God of heaven and seek His face at this time in history. We need to humble ourselves, and recognize how far we have fallen. We need to change our direction regarding sin and the toleration of it in our personal and collective lives. Then God tells us to look to pray and seek His face. When we do that God has promised to forgive us and heal our land.
If during this season of life on our planet you haven's stopped and looked up perhaps now would be a good time to seek the God of your salvation. He is right here and He is eager to love you and forgive you for your sin. If you do not know the God of heaven He is eager to save you and give you new life through His Son Jesus Christ who died to give you eternal freedom from sin and its eternal consequences. This may just be the time God would use to draw His people closer and in the process save a multitude of others for whom He gave His life.
Totally agree! C.S. Lewis answers the question “Why would a good God allow bad things to happen?” In his book The Problem With Pain. It is from this work that the famous quote is written, “ Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
ReplyDeleteI believe with you Bruce, that God is desperately seeking repentance and faith out of His great love for us!