Why, Lord, do the people not fear You? Why, Lord, do they not tremble at their own disobedience? Surely You are righteously angry, for You suffered and died that we might be forgiven -- not that we might live lives of sin.
Father, I see You. I fear You. I tremble and weep for Your wrath is very great. You look upon our lukewarm hearts with contempt and are reviled at our disregard. I see Your anger, Your disappointment, and I am broken by it.
Father, what can I do? I am but a little one. The nation does not see that I know of Your heart. They do not comprehend that You have revealed Yourself to one so insignificant. Not even John, who came to prepare a way for the Lord, could reach those who were not given to Him:
To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is give him from heaven." -- Joh 3:27
What am I to do? I drown myself in sorrow and weep until I am weak. I rush to do Your bidding; pleading and begging, speaking and sharing what You have said. Yet, far too many turn a deaf ear and spurn Your rebuke.
You said I would be like Jeremiah, speaking to a people who would not hear. You said we would be judged for preferring our wealth to You. Surely, that judgment is upon us. How we have wearied You! Again and again, You point me to these Scriptures!
You have wearied the Lord with your words.
"How have we wearied Him?" you ask.
By saying, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and He is pleased with them" or "Where is the God of justice?"
"See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before Me.
Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to His temple; the
messenger of the covenant, who you desire, will come," says the Lord Almighty.
But who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He
appears? For He will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. He
will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites
and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who
will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and
Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in the days gone by, as in
former years.
"So, I will come near to you for judgment. I will
be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers,
against those who defraud the laborers of their wages, who oppress the
widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not
fear ME," says the Lord Almighty. -- Mal 2:17-3:5
Because we call the slaughter of innocents a "necessary" evil, we are
guilty before You. Because we ignore the truth of Your word, we are guilty. Because we love the liar more than those who tell us the truth, we are guilty. Because we prefer to be entertained more than to be rightly instructed or corrected, we are guilty.
How my heart aches for the children of a nation that is so willfully blind! How I mourn the man of God that has abandoned the pulpit for fame and fortune! How I weep for the mothers who have killed their precious babies! Like Jeremiah, there is no end to my anguish over this arrogant, undisciplined nation! Father, what can I do!
Will You give me some who turn back before it is too late? Will You heed my tears and profit Your word? Will You not have mercy because of Who You are? Have we gone too far? Is it just too late? Father, yet have mercy for there are others like me who seek Your will. I am not alone in pursuit of Your deliverance. I am not alone in the desire to return.
Turn us back, Father, but do not completely destroy us. Rebuke us, Father, but do not remove us completely. Have mercy, Father, not because we deserve -- for surely we do not; but rather, have mercy, dear Father, because we are but dust and You the whirlwind of our destruction. Have mercy for You are just too much for us and we are completely -- utterly at Your mercy. I plead with You, Father. I beg at Your feet. Hear my pleas. Respond to my requests. Do not turn aside. Do not abandon us to our guilt.
In Yeshuah's precious name, amen and amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment