Proverbs 23:29 Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
We desecrate, we flatulate, we perspirate, we defecate, we urinate, and we vomit upon this earth. I know I sound like a potty-mouth Dr. Seuss, but without God, in our lives and at work in this world, we are no more than cannibalistic Morlocks eating each other alive. The world without God is a fecal crater run by the deranged and the inhabitants spend their lives trying to rise above the stench of humanity. As we rotate on this cesspool of a planet, we cannot but notice that our planet has become the Calcutta of the universe. Please forgive me Calcutta, for using you as a reference of a paradise lost. What was God thinking when He created this place? Surely He was not envisioning this mess we insist on maintaining and calling it home.
I am not blaming God for this mess, but the sad thing is, that God will get blamed for it, even though it is the human condition spoiling everything humanity touches. I had to turn off the news yesterday as the retelling of another mass shooting of children was reported over and over again. Real-time footage was shown with air-raid sirens screaming in the background as cities in the Ukraine were being destroyed, plus the fear of monkeypox overtaking the world. I know, it sounds like a whole lot of monkeyshines, but there it is. Then there are all the run-of-the-mill robberies, drug overdoses, people and property washed away in floods, and on and on the reporting went, and oh yeah, the economy wah-wah-wah. What will it take for people to call upon God’s name and bring the needed healing to the citizens of this earth? Hab. 1:3 Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight.
We are mortals in need of deliverance from the results of the sins we keep struggling with and repeating. We need holy restoration in the biggest way. Prov. 23:29 Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? The hurt, anguish, and sorrow we are living in will not give us the peace we need to live a wholesome life on this earth and with one another. There are all kinds of opinions as to why these horrific atrocities caused by humanity keep reoccurring. Statements like – no prayer in schools, no discipline for the young, no punishable deterrents, and no respect for anyone are the common whipping posts used to explain all the woes of society. The list is endless, as are the excuses for not doing what we know we should do, resulting in a life lived in a darkness that can be felt.
This darkness that is palpable throughout our world will take more than a few moral adjustments to fix. When God told Moses to stretch out his hand over Egypt to bring about the curse of darkness that could be felt, it was to confront the darkness within the heart of man and the god of darkness they worshipped. Ex. 10:21 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.” 22 So Moses reached out with his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. Someone might say, “I don’t get down on my knees and worship darkness!” No, but you are allowing all kinds of darkness to take place in your life by rejecting the gift of God which is Jesus our Lord and saviour.
Obeying God starts at home, within our own lives. Joshua asked the people of Israel how long were they going to mess around and not get on with what they knew they had to do. Josh. 18:3 So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given you? How long are we going to put off what we know God has asked us to do in His kingdom and with His salvation that is at work within our souls? When are we going to possess the blessings He has given us to acquire victory over all the mayhem in this world?
Let me close with a thought from Dr. Suess. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” Yes, we mortals need the fullness of God, and for me, the buck stops here at my soul. I have to care a whole awful lot and stay focused on God’s agenda and not what I see in the world right now. It may feel like everything stinks and is out of control, but God will deliver His people amid the world’s insanity. Col. 1:17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Amen!
Worthy of 2 a week. Thanks for the reminder again.