HEALING OUR LAND

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, the Lord appeared to him at night and said:

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.”

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among My people, 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. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that My Name may be there forever. My eyes and My heart will always be there.”

2 Chronicles 7:11-16

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As I write this devotion this morning, we are a nation in flux.

Our economy is struggling with many having trouble making ends meet. I read a statistic the other day that said we have lost a lot of middle class jobs that paid a decent wage and they have been replaced with lower wage paying jobs. So many people today work 40 hours a week but can barely pay their bills let alone afford health insurance for themselves or their families. And these are the people who actually have a job.

Unemployment remains very high with more than seven percent of the population without work. That may not sound like much but when you consider that seven percent of a million is 70,000 and with nearly 314 million people in the United States, the number of people not working today is near a whopping 2.2 million. To put that in perspective, that’s as many people that are in the nations of Latvia, Slovenia, or Macedonia.

With all this, relationships are strained. Statistically, 40 to 50 percent of all marriages today end up in divorce, leaving hearts and lives broken, particularly when there are children involved.

Looking at government, we have legislators who fail to agree on almost any major issue our country is facing. Partisan political stubbornness has replaced sensible, cooperative actions to better our nation. And while most American people are struggling to find enough money to live on, the government seems to have a bottomless coffer to spend from. The only problem is that they are spending money we don’t really have, driving our national debt to astronomically (and dangerously) high levels.

So why are we where we are and how do we get back to being a nation that is flourishing? Where can we find healing for our land?

Perhaps we can find the answer in today’s scripture passage.

You’ll recall that after Solomon prayed during the temple dedication, the Lord made a magnificent appearance, one that only He could make as he sent fire from heaven to consume the provided sacrifice before filling the temple with His glory. The people responded with reverent, devoted worship and praise in music, song, and spoken word for days upon days before returning home with rejoicing, glad hearts.

It had to be one of the most amazing worship times ever and I know I would have loved to have been there to witness it.

Well, after everyone had returned to their homes and the worship celebration had come to a close, the Lord provides Solomon with a personal response to his prayer. Look again at these words of God:

When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, the Lord appeared to him at night and said:

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.”

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among My people, 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. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that My Name may be there forever. My eyes and My heart will always be there.”

A lot of time and effort had been invested in planning, building, and manning the temple. All the hard work found favor with God who chose to make the temple His dwelling place, a place where His heart and eyes would always be. God had appointed Solomon to build a holy place for Him and Solomon and the Israelites had carried out His will. They would remain in His favor as long as they remained obedient to His word and way.

Only sin would remove them from the divinely approved and blessed status they enjoyed. And God knew they would sin. After all, sin was in their nature.

So what would happen when the people’s sin brought on God’s judgment? How would they be able to get right with God again and be restored to His favor?

The answer to these questions becomes the same answer to our current woes today and God provided it when He said:

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among My people, 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.”

The key to restoral is a sincere repentance, a dedicated turning from sin, and an obedient return to God’s will and way. No matter what judgment God brings on His people, these actions will result in Him hearing the confessions and petitions of His people, forgiving their sins, and ultimately, healing their land.

Going back to our nation today, it’s clear we are in a moral decline and have been so for some time. What was once sin is now considered acceptable. People have no need for God’s desires because they have so many more of their own and it’s those desires that take top priority in their lives.

More simply, we have become a people who place more value in the world than the One who created it.

Now ask yourself if God should bless a nation like that.

Friends, we need to get back to basics. We need to get back to honoring God by placing Him first in everything, submitting ourselves fully to His will and way and word.

We need to become once more, one nation under God.

Until we do, expect more hardship and struggle and difficulty. In my opinion, we can either come before God willingly or He will bring judgment so harsh we will have no other choice than to turn to Him.

Will it take Him not sending any rain on us or sending locusts to devour all our crops or a massive people-destroying plague to get our attention?

I guess that is up to us.

I pray it never gets that far and hope we wake up and turn to the only One who can heal when we are injuring.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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