Dear Fellow Christ Followers,
The wisest man who ever lived (Solomon) said in Ecclesiastes 1:9:
“That which has been is that which will be,
And that which has been done is that which will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.”
Jeremiah the prophet said (16:9-12):
For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I am going to eliminate from this place, before your eyes and in your time, the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride.
Now when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ‘For what reason has the LORD declared all this great calamity against us? And what is our iniquity, or what is our sin which we have committed against the LORD our God?’ Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your forefathers have forsaken Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘and have followed other gods and served them and bowed down to them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law. ‘You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me.”
Is God sovereign over everything? Yup.
Has our oppressive government shut down the “voice of gladness” – “the voice of the bride and groom”? (And blamed it on a virus – which is also under God’s sovereign control). Yup
But remember – they are no different than the oppressive governments God brought down on Israel. Both are just His minions. He is in control of everything – including the virus.
Has our nation (and the world for that matter) followed other gods? Yup. There are many, but the main god is called money. (How much time is spent pursuing that and possessions, compared with pursuing God?) In addition to all sorts of immorality.
Was Jeremiah prophesying over the USA and today’s circumstances? Nope.
But what did Paul say to the Roman believers about that in 15:4?
“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope”
What can we do as serious Christ Followers?
The last 3 words of the Jeremiah reference, supported by Paul’s admonition to the Romans: “listen to Me”, and “persevere in the scriptures” – have encouragement and hope – and share the Truth with others!
Be careful of getting sucked into fleshly discussions about this or that flavor of government. We are all doing it – and it plays directly into demonic strategies. They want us focusing on the physical – and supposed physical solutions. God is clear He wants us to focus on the spiritual when He spoke through Paul to the Ephesians he said ( 6:10-13):
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day.”
In these troubling and uncertain times, every one of us has been sucked into fleshly worries, fleshly conversations, and fleshly solutions. God makes it very clear those are fools errands. It’s one thing to know His word well, it is totally another to put on the full armor of God – through His word and prayer every day. Both Moses and Jesus said “man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4). We eat bread (food) every day. The metaphor is that we need to consume His word every day as well.
Pray that God will open doors and give you the words to speak (Colossians 4:2-6) with each person you engage with. It isn’t easy to steer these fleshly conversations toward God but if you ask Him for help, He loves to do that. Don’t force it, let Him open the door – sometimes He chooses not to – but pray for it regularly.
People are hurting. No one saw this dragging out like it has. (Well, OK, maybe some did…) As a human, are you frustrated with all of it? Sure, we all are. As a soldier for Christ do you get excited about the opportunities we now have to serve our King? Perspective is Everything!
The harvest is crazy plentiful. Are you one of His workers?
God Bless!
Stay in the Spiritual Gym!
Great bump, Kim. It’s definitely challenging to not find yourself engaging in these conversations of the flesh. We all do it, but your post here encourages me to understand I/we are not alone in the battle.