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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
(II Chronicles 7;14)
There aren’t many who won’t agree that our land needs to be healed. The disagreement is about what needs to be healed. I think that’s OK. God has a better view than we do, but I believe that He has placed partial understanding in each of us. You may think the problem is greed. I may think it’s pride. Another may answer that it’s hatred. God doesn’t tell us that we have to agree or to understand what the problem is. In fact, if we admit that we don’t know what the problems even are, that’s OK, too. There’s room for them all. The passage doesn’t say that if we get the right answer, God will hear from heaven….
There are four things the passage does say we have to do: humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways. Keep in mind that this instruction is being given to God’s people, who are called by God’s name: whether Israel (“he struggles with God”) or Christians, not to America or Americans, or the world. Americans doing these things would be even better, but the passage says “My people… My name.” This isn’t a nationwide call, it’s a church-wide call. So, if we Christians will do these things.
Our first job: to humble ourselves. It’s easy to look at others and say, “Get over yourself!” It’s not as easy see recognize pride when it’s in our own lives. The whole “name it and claim it,” triumphalism
There were times in my previous job when I cried walking across the parking lot to go to work. By the time I got to the door, I had made the decision, again, that it was God’s will for me for that time, and that I was going to do what He directed for another day, even though it required that I die a little inside. There are times in my current task of caring for my father and writing that I wish I could walk away. It’s hard to say, “Not my will, but Thine be done, Oh Lord,” over and over. It’s hard to try to figure out what others want. One false step and it’s “Off with her head!” even if they don’t use those words.
But humbling ourselves, submitting is the first step. Nothing happens until we do it. Admitting we don’t have the answers or that the answers we’ve tried have been wrong is required. Some Old Testament heroes like Nehemiah and Daniel went so far as to identify themselves with their people. It didn’t matter that the arrogance they confessed wasn’t theirs.
The second step is prayer. Not political activism, not being a social justice warrior, not protesting abortion. The second step is having a discussion with God. The third step is like it: seeking His face. Getting to know God.
The fourth step is turning from our wicked ways. We can’t do this before we humble ourselves, or pray, or seek His face, but turning from our wicked ways is just as important as the others. Again, it’s turning from OUR wicked ways, not those dirty, rotten sinners turning from THEIR wicked ways. Ours come first. Is there lying in the Church? In your life? Is there pride? Anger? Cruelty? Sexual immorality? Addiction? Pornography? Envy? Greed? Covetousness? Jealousy? Pettiness? Coarseness and foul language? Unforgiveness? We need to turn from these things.
Only when we’ve done these things can we expect God to hear from heaven, forgive us our sins, or heal our land.
There aren’t many who won’t agree that our land needs to be healed. The disagreement is about what needs to be healed. I think that’s OK. God has a better view than we do, but I believe that He has placed partial understanding in each of us. You may think the problem is greed. I may think it’s pride. Another may answer that it’s hatred. God doesn’t tell us that we have to agree or to understand what the problem is. In fact, if we admit that we don’t know what the problems even are, that’s OK, too. There’s room for them all. The passage doesn’t say that if we get the right answer, God will hear from heaven….
There are four things the passage does say we have to do: humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways. Keep in mind that this instruction is being given to God’s people, who are called by God’s name: whether Israel (“he struggles with God”) or Christians, not to America or Americans, or the world. Americans doing these things would be even better, but the passage says “My people… My name.” This isn’t a nationwide call, it’s a church-wide call. So, if we Christians will do these things.
Our first job: to humble ourselves. It’s easy to look at others and say, “Get over yourself!” It’s not as easy see recognize pride when it’s in our own lives. The whole “name it and claim it,” triumphalism
There were times in my previous job when I cried walking across the parking lot to go to work. By the time I got to the door, I had made the decision, again, that it was God’s will for me for that time, and that I was going to do what He directed for another day, even though it required that I die a little inside. There are times in my current task of caring for my father and writing that I wish I could walk away. It’s hard to say, “Not my will, but Thine be done, Oh Lord,” over and over. It’s hard to try to figure out what others want. One false step and it’s “Off with her head!” even if they don’t use those words.
But humbling ourselves, submitting is the first step. Nothing happens until we do it. Admitting we don’t have the answers or that the answers we’ve tried have been wrong is required. Some Old Testament heroes like Nehemiah and Daniel went so far as to identify themselves with their people. It didn’t matter that the arrogance they confessed wasn’t theirs.
The second step is prayer. Not political activism, not being a social justice warrior, not protesting abortion. The second step is having a discussion with God. The third step is like it: seeking His face. Getting to know God.
The fourth step is turning from our wicked ways. We can’t do this before we humble ourselves, or pray, or seek His face, but turning from our wicked ways is just as important as the others. Again, it’s turning from OUR wicked ways, not those dirty, rotten sinners turning from THEIR wicked ways. Ours come first. Is there lying in the Church? In your life? Is there pride? Anger? Cruelty? Sexual immorality? Addiction? Pornography? Envy? Greed? Covetousness? Jealousy? Pettiness? Coarseness and foul language? Unforgiveness? We need to turn from these things.
Only when we’ve done these things can we expect God to hear from heaven, forgive us our sins, or heal our land.
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