In Wrath Remember Mercy

When does a nation deserve the wrath of God? Certainly, the scriptures are clear that you can reach a point of corporate sin that tips the scales so that your nations sin is "complete" (Genesis 15:12 speaks of the Amorites in this way). But what sins bring that judgement? It would be wrong to presume to understand all of God's ways or to suggest that there is a formula for how God' handles every situation. However, it is worth paying attention to what happened to Israel so as to learn lessons from that nation. When did Israel earn judgment for their sin? When they turned justice into their own selfish gain, denying the poor and the weak of the justice they deserved. When they took advantage of the helpless, when they looked to everyone and everything except God for help, and when they rejected, they brought judgment on themselves. When the nation Judah (southern part of Israel) had lived like this for a long time, Habakkuk the prophet cried out to God about the injustice that he saw and asked how long God would allow this to continue. God promised to deal with Judah's sin and rebellion, but Habakkuk struggled with God's method. In the end, Habakkuk accepted that God would judge the people, and do so as He saw fit, but Habakkuk needed to trust God regardless. His final chapter opens with these words. "Lord, I've heard the report about You and I fear. O Lord revive Your work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy." It is these words that I have stood out to me. America is due judgment. We kill the most helpless (yes, I speak of abortion) and justify it because of the life and rights of the mother (who may already be a victim of a kind, and now by killing her child we do double wrong to her). Our political leaders turn justice upside down and slander and destroy innocent people. We take from one group wrongly, simply to redistribute power. We enjoy all the things we like, on the backs of slave labor in other parts of the world. We live immorally and then become outraged at anyone who dares to disagree with our lifestyle and choices. Yes, we are filling up the measure of our sin. LORD, I pray as Habakkuk did. In wrath, remember mercy. You are God. We are sinful. We need Your mercy, but we deserve Your wrath. In wrath remember mercy. You did for Israel then, and I pray that you will for us now.

Loving One Another

 I (Dan) had intended to post this some months ago in the early spring, but for various reasons, it slipped my mind, and I never did.  Now in early fall, I think that perhaps some of the thoughts may well still be pertinent, and perhaps the issue of loving one another instead of ourselves is ever more pertinent than before.  I hope this encourages you as you consider the situations in our world, from COVID-19 to our current racial tensions, etc.  It is clear that I am addressing the situations from April, but consider how to respond to today's issues now.

John 15:12-13 "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life his friends."

Matthew 22:36-40 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"  And He said to him, " 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment.  The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

I recently had the opportunity to discuss with one of my graduating seniors what her life plans are after graduation.  As I discussed with her, she told me that she wants to become a nurse, largely so that she can care for people in a way that shares the love, hope, light, and joy of Christ with the people whom she cares for.  If you are inclined toward skepticism at all, you might think that these are the words of a sweet, well-meaning young lady, but when faced with the real world, you suspect that she will find it hard to share anything so profound.  I understand how some could say that, but I know this young woman, and I know what she and her family have walked through already; her grandmother's recurring cancer, her cousin's cancer, her uncle's cancer (those two while still very young), her sister's struggle to keep her eyesight, her own severe sickness with E. coli, etc.  Yet in the midst of all of this, her whole family exudes love and joy.  I can hardly think of people (one or two come to mind) who show so much love and joy.  How can this be?  There is but one answer.  They know the one who IS joy.  They know the God of joy, and they know that "the Joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10).

This young woman whom I've had the privilege of teaching for four years understands that joy, and because she does is willing to strive to share it with others the way her grandmother and other family members have before her.  This, combined with a natural inclination to love people, leads her to a desire to be a nurse.  As we discussed this, the coronavirus was just beginning in our country and was already becoming severe in Italy.  I asked her if she was ready to go into nursing, knowing the risk that was involved when sicknesses such as this broke out.  Her answer seemed to be without hesitation.  Yes.  She loves people enough to put herself at risk for others.  Isn't that really what our medical professionals all potentially do?  The lay their life down for others.  

As I watch our country battle and war and divide over coronavirus, I am deeply distressed.  I often wish I were a medical professional with the training to care for the sick.  I fear no loss for me.  I know Christ, and I know He will keep me, live or die.  But others do not.  This is how my student also feels.  If our sacrifice could help some find Christ, it is all worth it to us.  But what I see is not a love that lays down its life for others.  Nurses do their job and then throw it in the faces of those who aren't on the frontlines.  You can see it in the social media posts and protests.  Others protest restrictive orders from governors and closures that don't make sense to everyone, causing nurses and other medical staff to be angered and feel that people don't care if they get sick in this process.  The protesters seem to respond in kind that these people aren't caring about how this forced closure is destroying lives in a totally different way.  Others still suggest that this is all media driven fear-mongering with a corrupt goal of setting us up for some takeover or something.

In this milieu of ideas and heated passions, we find ourselves drawn to take sides.  I've done so in some ways as well, even if the side I have taken has generally been "stop treating other people like this".  What if, instead of taking sides, we chose what my student's words would call us to.  What if we chose to simply love each other and put each other first.

Here is what could happen if we don't.  Protesters would be ignored and people will go without work for LONG times.  Their jobs won't return in large enough quantities for long enough that many will be impoverished.  Others will struggle intensely with purposelessness, and still others may go off the deep end altogether.  People may die from lack of other health care because we have shut down much of the rest of our health care system to deal with a threat from COVID 19 that has been severe, but is not the only threat.  More life may be lost in the social chaos that will follow from having so many people who have been discarded along the way.  At the same time, these protesters may be causing the continued spread of this virus, which is endangering the lives of health care providers as well as other people.

It seems we are caught in a catch 22.  Whichever way we go, people suffer, and people die.  We have flattened the curve some, but the truth is, without a vaccine (which is a long way off), and without herd immunity (which could actually be achieved much more quickly, but with a cost of life), we have no easy solution.  It is here that I turn to Christ's words.  How can we turn this conflict into an opportunity to love others and lay down our lives for each other.  I have pondered long over this.  One step was for me to obey the government peacefully while we tried to figure out what was really going one and how to handle it.  A lot of information has been learned since then, and we've begun to see the disruption that this shutdown is causing.  Would love turn a blind eye to that?  No.  Would love crash forward with disregard for sickness?  No.  Are there more options?  Yes.

What of sacrifice.  Health care workers make sacrifices.  We make sacrifices.  We all take risks for each other.  We can all inconvenience ourselves, and yet find ways to make life possible, knowing that risk is present, but knowing that we must continue to live and care for each other, lest inaction causes a death of a different sort.  

As I write, I admit that my situation is different.  I live in the middle of nowhere.  Truly!  I still have a job, and my wife and I raise a ton of our own food.  We won't starve quickly if the food supply gets disrupted.  But others will.  What sacrifices must we all make.  How can we plan ahead now.  We must look forward to the other side of this and look around to those around us as we walk through this.  

Government protesters probably are not wanting to harm health care professionals.  I doubt that these other people hate the protesters.  But I do believe that we have allowed pride to blind our ability to see another person's hurt and need.  I know that I have done this.  So let's make the love of our neighbor our great aim, and lay down our lives for one another.

Who "Matters"?

If you're taking your cues from the news media these days and you happen to live in America, you might start to think you don't “matter” any more..... unless your skin is a certain color or you have an “essential” job. I happen to fit into neither of those two categories.
But I know that I matter. And I know you do too. No matter if your skin is black or white or any shade in between, I know that you matter. And whether you're a doctor or a cashier, or a farmer or a teacher, or a police officer, or a stay at home mom like me..... you matter too. How do I know? I know that I matter and that you matter because we are both made in the image of God. Whether you love Jesus with all your heart, or you want nothing to do with God, or you're feeling confused about it all..... you're still made in God's image. And that gives you infinite worth and value.

The color of our skin is not what makes us matter. The amount of money we make is not what gives us our value. The job we do is not what causes us to be an essential person. We are all on equal footing here. We are all made in God's image, and we all desperately need His mercy and grace. We all need the forgiveness that only comes through the blood of Christ. Not a one of us is better, or more essential or more valuable or more worthy than anyone else. None of us matters more.

Is there prejudice and racism? Sadly, yes. Is there injustice and unfair treatment? Painfully so. But you and I are responsible before God for the choices that WE make. We have the choice to bring healing or to cause hurt. I happen to have an ancestor from quite a ways back that I've been told was a very unkind person. I have no idea what this person did to earn this reputation. And (thanks be to God!) I am not responsible for the hurt that this person must have caused to those around them. I am responsible for me. Not for my mother or father, or great, great, great grandmother, or anyone else. And you are responsible for the choices you make. And we are individuals. Members of certain races, and groups, yes, but individuals. One bad teacher does not make all teachers bad. One bad white woman does not make all white women bad. This goes for all categories.... One bad __________ does not make all ______________ bad.

Some of us who have been silent during all that's going on have been told that “silence is violence”. I beg to differ. Silence on social media is only one type of silence. Perhaps some of us don't really feel like we know what to say about what's happening. Perhaps we don't want to share our perspectives for the whole world to see. Maybe we don't want to say something just for the sake of “saying something”. Or maybe.... maybe we've not been silent at all. Perhaps we've been crying out to God for answers to the problems that plague our country. Maybe what is often perceived as silence is actually a heartfelt cry to God on behalf of those who are hurting. God hears. He knows all. And He is perfecty in control.

National Day of Prayer - a note Dan sent to his students

         You may or may not have been aware of this, but today is the national day of prayer, and if ever there was a year for us as a school to pray, this is that year. But I would like to encourage you to let today not be a single day of prayer for our country (and world) but rather let it be a mark of intensification of prayer. The need is great. Colossians 4:2 instructs us to "be diligent in prayer". The word for diligent suggests a militant commitment, like that of an active duty soldier to their task. In the Roman world, the soldier's duty was so significant that if they failed, or were negligent, it could result in a death penalty. This drove them by fear. We are not driven by fear, but by perfect love. Nevertheless, our commitment to prayer should be the same. Prayer as in warfare. It is perhaps not an exaggeration to say that our lives (and others) depend upon this. Also remember that in Ephesians 6:10-18, prayer is the final component of the armor of God as it is described. We are to put on the full armor (for spiritual warfare) "with all prayer and supplication..."

So how to pray?
         First, pray that God's name would be treated as holy by the world around. "Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name."
         Second, pray for God's kingdom to come. I do have a little caution of awareness regarding this. Praying for His kingdom to come also means that we're asking for judgment on the world. I cannot help but ask for God to be merciful (Habakkuk 3:2), as I know that our world is due judgment for our rebellion against God.
         Third, pray for His will to be done. Sometimes we think that this could never include terrible or grievous things, but that is not necessarily the case. What is true is that He always works it for the good of those who love Him. So trust His will when you don't understand it.
         Fourth, ask God to grant what we need for each day.
         Fifth, ask God to forgive us and our country for our sinful ways. Some specifics are the evil of power seeking, killing innocent unborn, vile and perverse entertainment, murder and violence, and the general rejection of God.
         Sixth, Yes, ask God to deliver us from all of the evil that we see and know will one day come.

To the Lord's prayer, I would add this.

Prayer specifically for our leaders, as much for those whom we dislike as for those whom we like.
Prayer for the church. We are much more weak than we seem to realize. Pray for strength to be faithful in the days ahead. Pray that we are witnesses to a lost and dying world.
Pray for our military. They need prayer, and all the more in difficult times of international tension.
Pray for voices in the entertainment and media worlds to arise who will bring godly messages to us. Pray for the people of our country to hear these messages and for many to respond in repentance.

        I would add to all of this, let's always remember to worship and praise Him as we pray.  He is worthy.  And remember that He reigns!  THAT is good news!

In Wrath Remember Mercy

This is Dan again.
         When does a nation deserve the wrath of God?  Certainly, the scriptures are clear that you can reach a point of corporate sin that tips the scales so that you nations sin is "complete" (Genesis 15:12 speaks of the Amorites in this way).  But what sins bring that judgement?  It would be wrong to presume to understand all of God's ways or to suggest that there is a formula for how God' handles every situation.  However, it is worth paying attention to what happened to Israel so as to learn lessons from that nation.

         When did Israel earn judgment for their sin?  When they turned justice into their own selfish gain, denying the poor and the weak of the justice they deserved.  When they took advantage of the helpless, when they looked to everyone and everything except God for help.  When the nation Judah (the southern part of Israel) had lived like this for a long time, Habakkuk the prophet cried out to God about the injustice that he saw and asked how long God would allow this to continue.  God promised to deal with Judah's sin and rebellion, but Habakkuk struggled with God's method.  In the end, Habakkuk accepted that God would judge the people, and do so as He saw fit, but Habakkuk needed to trust God regardless.  His final chapter opens with these words. "Lord, I've heard the report about You and I fear.  O Lord revive Your work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy."  It is those last four words that I have stood out to me.

         America is due judgment.  We kill the most helpless (yes, I speak of abortion) and justify it because of the life and rights of the mother (who may already be a victim of a kind, and now by killing her child we do double wrong to her).  Our political leaders turn justice upside down and slander and destroy innocent people.  We take from one group wrongly, simply to redistribute power.  We enjoy all the things we like, on the backs of slave labor in other parts of the world.  We live immorally and then become outraged at anyone who dares to disagree with our lifestyle and choices.  Yes, we are filling up the measure of our sin.  And so I find myself praying as Habakkuk did.  "LORD, I've heard the report about You and I fear. In wrath, remember mercy.  You are God.  We are sinful.  We need Your mercy.  We deserve Your wrath.  In wrath remember mercy.  You did for Israel then.  I pray that you will for us now as well.
         In my last post I spoke of the urgent need for an earnest commitment to prayer.  This time I add this to my prayers.  Lord, remember mercy.  We depend on your mercy.

Pray - Earnestly

This post is by Dan.
          As I watch our country, I am aware of the profound unrest that is facing our nation. We are very divided, and often over issues that we should naturally unify around.  We have great difficulty seeing one another's perspectives and often immediately treat the other perspective as outrageously immoral, without considering the perspectives carefully.  We attack and we lash out.          A couple weeks ago, I was asked to participate in a corporate day of fasting and prayer for our country and actually the world regarding the coronavirus pandemic.  I did not join the friend in that day, as the group calling for the fast was the Mormon church, and as it was Good Friday, I was celebrating a loosely restructured passover seder.  However, I chose to fast and pray the next day.  I have prayed quite a lot for this situation, but as I prayed I was struck by the need for much more intense prayer in the church.  Our world is in desperate need of prayer, and America is in desperate need of prayer.  Do we pray with militant passion and commitment, or do we forget that in the spiritual realm, prayer is the last component of the armor of God so famously listed in Ephesians 6:10-18?  Colossians calls us to continue earnestly in prayer.  This "earnestly" is a military term.  It is as if to say that our dedication to prayer should be as a soldier's dedication to their duty in warfare or otherwise.  Prayer should be practiced by us as our lives, spiritual lives, and the spiritual well being of other depend upon prayer.
          So what of COVID - 19?  Regardless of our opinion, we as believers should be united around this idea.  We should pray over this situation in every appropriate way that we can think of, recognizing that God is in control and has never been surprised by this.  He is working in it and through it, and it is our job to earnestly pray, seeking His face, and yes, ask for healing as well.

Coronavirus..... a laughing matter?

A few years ago, Dan and I played an April Fool's prank on some of our family members, telling them that we were pregnant. We weren't, of course, but we fooled some people and got some good laughs. Then we had a miscarriage. Suddenly, an April Fool's joke about a pregnancy didn't seem funny any more. The next time April Fool's Day rolled around, I happened to see a post on one of my friends' pages that said, “Pregnancy is not an April Fool's joke.” It then went on to state how many women struggle with infertility, go through a miscarriage, or lose a baby at birth. Joking about a pregnancy once seemed like a funny and harmless thing to do. But now I could see how a joke like that could be painful for the many women who want children, but can't have them, or for those who have lost babies.

Now, you're probably wondering what on earth all of this has to do with the coronavirus. Bear with me....

The recent coronavirus outbreak has elicited a variety or reactions around the world.... mass panic.... concern.... stockpiling of things like face masks, hand sanitizer, etc., ...joking.... and ridicule. The way we respond to the coronavirus is likely very closely related to how it has affected us personally. Most of us here in the US have not been personally touched by the coronavirus outbreak, at least at this point. And so, for many of us, coronavirus has become kind of a laughing matter. I'll freely admit that I have joked around about it a bit myself. But for others, including some friends of ours in other countries, coronavirus is nothing to laugh about. They're living a different life right now, as travel is discouraged or not permitted, schools are closed and distance learning is in place, or they're facing the reality that people in their country are dying.

I think, that especially as followers of Jesus, we need to be careful and sensitive in our response to the coronavirus, remembering that for some people we know and love, coronavirus is not funny. I'm not condemning all joking about it. I'm not saying we all need to panic. But please, let's think about the people who have loved ones who have died from this virus. Let's think about those who are living drastically different lives right now because of the precautions being taken. Let's remember that we could be the next one feeling broken and hopeless, because it wasn't just “some older person we don't know” who died from coronavirus, but it was our grandparent, our parent, our next door neighbor. I sincerely hope and pray that it doesn't come to that, but let's remember that for some, it has come to that.

Again, I'm not here to give an opinion on whether this is indeed a global health emergency, or whether we all need to stokpile necessities, or whether the media is causing more panic than necessary or any of the other numerous debates one could have.

After having a miscarriage, I realized that for many people, pregnancy is not something to joke about. Let's remember that for many people, coronavirus is also not a laughing matter.