The scenery passing by the car window, the words in the book
I was reading aloud to my husband as he drove, and the news flash on the radio
all converged in a maelstrom of conflict. Beauty and chaos. Defiant power and judgment.
Israel. America.
Merciful God.
We were driving from South Carolina to Vermont. I had
brought along the book The Harbinger
by Joseph Cahn, to help pass some of the seventeen hours in the car. Although
impatient with the author’s repetitive narration, I was fascinated with the
case he made for the warning of judgment on America. The chilling connection
between the words of Isaiah 9:10 and the events of 9/11 were difficult to
dismiss.
Linking bricks, hewn stone, sycamore trees and cypresses to
Ground Zero and America’s foundations, Cahn couches the voice of a prophet in
the form of a fictional narrative.
What if it’s true? What if God is really begging us to turn
back NOW?
As Cahn asserts, we have lost sight of where our favor comes
from. A people so deceived we don’t even recognize that the very words
proclaimed from the nation’s capital as a show of our country’s strength are
actually God’s words of judgment against Israel and possibly America’s
defiance.
Superimposed on the scene in the car was the one outside.
The rolling hills and white-fence horse pastures of the Virginia countryside,
all topped with sunshine and fluffy clouds, showcased a land blessed with peace
and beauty and favor. It was difficult to imagine it otherwise.
I took a break from reading and turned on the radio just in
time to hear the announcement of the Supreme Court’s decision on Obamacare. As upset as I was with Justice Roberts, I had
to agree with his statement: “It’s not our job to protect the people from their
political choices.”
No. We will all reap the consequences individually and
collectively of our choices.
Our choice to hand over
our lives to the government control.
Our choice to remove all vestiges of God from public places.
Our choice of whether or not to “humble ourselves and pray,
and turn from our wicked ways so that God would hear from heaven and forgive
our sin and heal our land.’—2 Chronicles 7:14
We passed a lone billboard on the edge of a field. Its
message simple: “You will meet God.”
One way or another, regardless of which choice we make.
I powered down my Nook and shut off the radio. What did these
past moments of sobering reflection mean to me?
As a child of God, I have been given the responsibility to be
a bearer of truth, but so often have remained silent in the noise of the
mockers, cowered in fear of loss of favor.
God has equipped me,
as well as all his children, to proclaim his glory, why should I fear?
We may live in times of encroaching darkness, but “the light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness has not overcome it.”—John 1:5
May those of us who walk with God, rouse ourselves, shake
off our lethargy, and take up our appointed positions in such a time as this.
Sobering thoughts, Marcia -- but your last sentence sums it up beautifully. Lots to consider.
ReplyDeleteAll the signs are there for the direction God wants us to take; sometimes they are not so obvious, but it is Jesus who acts as the usher into God's presence for us and it is Jesus who advocates for us and it is ultimately Jesus who points out the signs when we don't see them. Getting Jesus to be the way to show us what God wants is God's smartest ever move and that's saying something!
ReplyDeleteMarcia, just read this. So true. So heart-felt. So...right on. I'm with Cathy, the last sentence says it all. Thanks for these words of wisdom.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, Marcia. There is so much in our world, and our country, that breaks the heart. We must not fear being politically incorrect, and step up and speak the truth, stand for moral justice before all men - before it is too late.
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