02/24/2018
Do you fret over the condition of the country and this world? Do you wring your hands and cry out “Lord! Lord! Look at what is being done and the harm there is to your people!” Well if you do, then stop! Ours is to trust in Him who created all things, and to leave princes and principalities to He who established them. We are like the grasses that cover the earth. We may brown with drought, but we have faith in the showers. The trees will wither and die, but the grass returns with the rain, dark clouds and lightning are the harbinger of mercy.
“Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.”
Psalms 37:34 KJV
When I was a boy I lived on military bases around the country and the world. I saw the suffering in the aftermath of World War II in Germany as men and women sifted through the garbage my father had placed by the road, looking for food, and I worried for them. “Lord these people are suffering.” I went to Berlin that was in ruin and thought “this place is destroyed.” I was despondent and prayed for these people. Today they are fed, and the cities have erased the ruin of war. The trees have been replanted to grow amidst the grasses that survived and never perished. Yet, even in the midst of plenty there are signs that the drought will return... a loss of faith, the failure to heed God’s Word, but the grass, that is the righteous, will survive, and those that call on the name of the Lord will be sustained.
We keep his Word, and wait upon the Lord for His seasons are certain, and we prepare ourselves for them. The rain that falls on the just and the unjust will cease, but our God will sustain those who hear His voice because the humble grasses of this world are held in His hand, and their seed will be preserved.
“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Matthew 5:45 KJV
I look around my country today and I see the tide pulling back from God’s shore, and I watch as the rich marshes of righteousness go dry. I see good people fret, lose faith in the land, and I see how they have become uprooted by the current of the tide, and pulled into the sea. The roots spoken of in God’s Word having been abandoned to follow the water. The withering will be for a season, and when the tide rises once more, those who left with it will not return. As children of God we are to hold firm, and trust in His goodness and provision.
“For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.”
Isaiah 64:4-5 KJV
Where is our faith? In whom do we trust? Do we pull up our roots to chase after the fleeting things of this world, or hold tight to those firm promises of God? Don’t worry yourself about injustice and evil in the world because they are God’s to judge... remain humble like the grass at His feet and know that these things too shall pass, and that our inheritance is not of this place. God is merciful and will deliver us.
“I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.”
Psalms 86:12-13 KJV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for both the rain and the drought that you let come upon this world. I thank you for the strength that your seasons bring to us, and worship you Father in the comings and the goings of worldly fortunes. You alone Lord hold all things in your hand and sift the wheat from the chaff with the power of your breath, and the certain touch of your fingers. Hold me ever in the palm of your hand Holy Father. Give me peace and prosperity within the raging storms that come Merciful Lord, and reassure me in the dry times that wither the unjust, and separate the believer from those whose eyes have turned inward... searching their own hearts for answers. With the coming of the rain show me your bounty, but don’t let me see the riches of the unjust upon whom your rain also fell. Have mercy on those who believe their earthly harvest has come from someone other than you. Oh my Just and Righteous God, keep me at rest and secure in your peace and goodness forever as you wither the land and weed your fields of iniquity. I pray that the eyes of my fellow men turn swiftly to you and cry out for forgiveness. Have mercy in that day Lord, and let your grace abound as the sinners call out the name Jesus, and seek your grace in honesty and true repentance. Great are you Holy Father, and just is your judgement. Let me never slip from your hand, and may I please you always.
“All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.”
Psalms 86:9-10 KJV
Rich Forbes