Psalm 126:4-6 (NIV): Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.
Many in America these days have written off the Church, figuring that it has had its day and is irreparably sinking into the sunset. Some see this with horror and dismay, others with great joy. But the fact is, this is not the end of the real Church in America. Everywhere in the world, at some time, in some place, God’s people get lazy, worldly, self-sufficient, and more focused on politics than on His kingdom. And when that happens, God allows their fortunes to suffer. He takes his guidance away from them (they can’t really hear His voice anyway, with sin-plugged ears!), and He withholds His Spirit and his power, so that they will only be able to do what they can accomplish in their own strength (which isn’t very much!).
To some this seems harsh and unproductive. But there is a very clear reason for this. God is always true to His word, and his word does not change. The blessings and curses found in Deuteronomy 28 are still valid for God’s people. They are the means that He is too often forced to resort to when the people called by His name go astray. When they stop listening to His voice, He must resort to those actions to get their attention. The goal, though, is not punishment, but restoration. When things start going downhill, these trials and sufferings that He allows to impact His people are designed to make them stop, look around, realize the height from which they have fallen, and repent.
There will always be a remnant left in the land; a remnant that still hears God’s voice, and who seek His face, even in the midst of the trials He brings. And, just as it was in Israel, that remnant is the core from which the Church will rise anew in the nations where He has let it collapse from its own internal rottenness. This remnant are the ones who will begin the slow process of restoration, sowing the seeds of the gospel with sincere tears of repentance and of longing to see lost souls find redemption. It is they who will carefully tend the new growth peeking up through the wreckage of what had been before, pulling the weeds of false doctrine and complacency before they have a chance to root again, and keeping at bay the enemy who will try to uproot the new growth before it can be established. These are the ones who, after much grief and sorrow, through patiently enduring the hard and painful toil of the growing season, will return with sheaves filling their arms, an abundant harvest that will see the sin-parched land bursting again with new life.
It is up to God’s people how far this process has to go before they turn back to Him whole-heartedly. If we wait, our nation will end up crashing completely into chaos, anarchy, and ruin. If we close our eyes, simply wring our hands in despair, or try to fix the problems with mere human wisdom and strategies, then we will end up crashing right along with it. But if we repent, get back on track with God’s agenda, become again the messengers of His covenant, put aside their worldly ways and turn back whole-heartedly to Him (2 Chronicles 7:14), then God will hear from heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our land. He will breathe fresh life into our dry bones, and make us once again a mighty army of ambassadors for the kingdom of heaven. Ambassadors who will once again bring good news to the lost and hopeless, and who will become a river of life flowing through our nation.
Father, thank You for this encouragement. Though the darkness seems to be closing in fast, it’s not too late. Help us, help ALL of Your people all across our nation, to hear Your voice calling us away from our schedules, our occupations, our political scheming, our entertainments, our busyness, back to a wholehearted devotion to You and Your agenda. Help us to genuinely repent, to see so clearly the height from which we as Your Church have fallen, that it drives us to our knees and back to You. Help us to pray powerful prayers of hope and restoration, to come once more so powerfully into Your presence that we return to our homes, our workplaces, and our social circles, with our faces all aglow with the presence of Your Holy Spirit. Help us, Lord to not wait until the last minute, or until all has collapsed around us, but to start now, so that we can heal our land. Amen.