When All Is Said and Done

But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. Neh 9:26

I think it’s safe to say that our nation is reeling from the recent and tragic events of the mass shootings in several cities. The news stations were reporting one incident after another only days apart. As I watched the media trying to keep track of the unfolding of these horrors, I realized how our society is at best grasping for coping mechanisms. In the political arena, the blame game has been vehemently vocalized. In addition, our state and local officials are addressing the wounds through grief counselors and humanitarian aid. While these can provide immediate and necessary relief from the trauma with lovely individuals who are sincere in their efforts towards compassion, the world is telling us, even crying out to us, something more needed.

Once again the prophets of old speak to our times. Nehemiah has finished rebuilding of the wall. During the dedication service, two themes are prominent in this time of celebration and consecration. The faithfulness of God and the unfaithfulness of His people. To some, the reminders of the sad track record of Israel would seem to only dampen the atmosphere of an otherwise happy occasion. But as Ezra and Nehemiah would have it, this truth needed to be heard. It needed to be heard because when all was said and done, the national, personal and spiritual hardship of the Lord’s people was because of v. 26.

Can we blame what we see happening to one isolated malady? No, the Bible tells us that there are spiritual forces of evil at work and Satan comes only to steal, kill and destroy. John 10:10 The devil also knows that he has only a short time left to decieve and annialate God’s creation and he is cunning and heartless in his efforts. Rev 12:12 These truths are often the overarching cause of the many ills in our culture.

But we the people of God have been given the awesome and holy calling of proclaiming the excellencies of Him who has called us out of the darkness and into His marvelous light. 1Pet 2:9 But if we are taking God’s truth and flinging it behind our backs in hopes of reaching a more progressive and tolerant society, we are greatly mistaken.

When I read passages such as Nehemiah I have to ask the Lord to examine my personal commitment to His word. I pray with every fiber of my being that we, the people of God, would be revived. Revived in our commitment to His Word, renewed in our fervency to pray and when all is said and done, to be faithful to bring true hope to our hurting world.