May the mumbling commence!
Sometimes, we are troubled with God’s agenda. We are troubled because God’s agenda will significantly change our lifestyle. We are troubled because we live in the most well-off country known to humanity. While the Lord does not frown upon wealth per se, He does frown upon wealth with the greatest ideal being hoarding. Read some words of the Lord from Isaiah 25 and 26:
You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in his distress,
a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm
driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert.
You silence the uproar of foreigners;
as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is stilled.
On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine – the best of meats and the finest of wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken. (25:4-8)
When I read a passage like this, I try to identify who I am. Am I the poor and needy one? Or am I the storm and heat that afflicts the poor and needy? Though I do not consider myself well-off, neither do I consider myself poor and needy. I do know that the Lord has richly blessed me with more than enough to live on. I do know that the Lord has entrusted me with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
The question remains: What do I do with what God has so gracefully given me? Am I willing to include all people in God’s family? Don’t get me wrong. All people are included in God’s family – once they accept the invitation and come. How well do I help others come to faith? Or do I hinder them? Humble me, O God.
He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low;
he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust.
Feet trample it down – the feet of the oppressed,
the footsteps of the poor. (26:5-6)
To lift others up, I must humble myself. God requires a truly level playing field. And this leveling creates distress for those with much – like you and me.
Lord, they came to you in their distress;
when you disciplined them,
they could barely whisper a prayer.
As a woman with child and about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pain,
so were we in your presence, O Lord.
We were with child, we writhed in pain, but we gave birth to wind.
We have not brought salvation to the earth;
we have not given birth to people of the world.
But your dead will live; their bodies will rise.
You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy.
Your dew is like the dew of the morning;
the earth will give birth to her dead. (26:16-19)
Our efforts are in vain if we do not walk with the Lord. The Lord will revive us from the dead, wake us up, and cause us to shout for joy. Dusk will turn into dawn, and death will be no more. There will be no more tears for anyone.
Praise the Lord. Come Lord Jesus!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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