Like many of us, I am deeply grieved. I am broken for my fellow humans on this planet. I am concerned about our Nation and the persecuted church around the world. I feel I reside somewhere between hope and hopelessness. I struggle with wondering if it’s simply too late for America. I am forty-five years old. I was, simply by God’s grace, born in the United States. I grew up after the civil rights movement; a time that horrible crimes were committed against people simply because they were born and created by God with a darker skin tone than me. I was blessed to grow up with friends of different colors and backgrounds. We didn’t fight about our differences. We loved our similarities. We asked questions when we didn’t understand each other. We talked. We laughed. We fought. We prayed. We were just…human beings.
I have talked with many Christians, strong believers and mighty men and women of God that are struggling like never before. A friend of mine, a long time believer told me in the last few weeks that she has never felt so low spiritually. She is not the only one telling me such things. As Christian Americans, we are facing things we have never, ever faced. Every day, we awake to an unfamiliar landscape. I am seeking God, praying, and marinating on the holy Word of God for answers.
The book of Joel doesn’t seem like the place to search for comfort. My flesh wants comfort; my soul needs answers and the power to change this world crumbling around me. In Joel 1:13-14 , the Lord instructs us:
Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast;
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
Over and over in the word of God, He calls on us, HIS PEOPLE to repent and weep for the sins of our nations. He isn’t looking for those who do not recognize sin to pray, however He wants ALL people to accept Christ and have eternal life. See, we are God’s children. As earthly parents, we expect more out of our children. We don’t have the same expectations from children that do not belong to us.
Church, I am asking us to seek the lost gift of repentance. Joel 2:112-13 teaches us what to do right now:
“Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
13 Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knows? He may turn and relent
and leave behind a blessing—
grain offerings and drink offerings
for the Lord your God.
My fellow Christians, let’s pray, fast, and weep before our holy God for the sins of our nation. Let’s cry out to God for forgiveness of the sins of murder, racism, lies, gossip, slander, and not being obedient to the holy right and wrong laid out clearly in the word of God. As a nation, we have done horrible things in the sight of a holy God. Thankfully we have a God that is rich in mercy and abounding in love. It’s not too late.