Over the past few months the world we live in has been shaken up a bit. We have responsibilities that are new to us, and issues that we must face. Masks, social distancing, and social stances regarding injustice are required of us at this moment, maybe in way that we, (as a country,) haven’t experienced since the 1960’s.
So what are we to do?
What is my responsibility as a believer in this time?
What can I really do?
Over the past few weeks, I’ve thought deeply about these things and the Lord keeps bringing me back to the following scripture.
Isaiah 1: 16 – 18
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.”
With so many voices, news outlets, and opinions whirling around us, it can be hard to determine the proper response. Thankfully, scripture tells us. As the Lord sent the prophet to plead with the nation of Israel, to turn from their ways, or be judged, the instructions were clear… Repent, cease, learn, seek, rebuke, defend, and plead…
I believe this warning to Israel could be applied to our country during this time in which we find ourselves in, and the instructions are clear.
Repent
No doubt, I have turned a blind eye to injustices here and abroad. Let’s face it, sometimes injustices are so overwhelming that we feel small, inadequate, exposed, and uncertain as to what to do. Feelings of inadequacy, however, do not define who God is or what His capabilities are to make change. I, at least, have the obligation to pray, submit to His Lordship, and then act in obedience. Thus, repentance is needed.
Cease
You may be familiar with Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s famous quote, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” These words were uttered during a season in which people were being isolated, persecuted, and killed because of who they were. Most of Germany just fell in line and let injustices become a new normal.
In our country the injustices of isolation, persecution, and even murder are occurring all around us.
So when the scripture tells the Israelites, “Cease to do evil,” and then we apply those instructions to our lives, ceasing may look like the ceasing of being ceased.
Learn
There are some things that I just don’t understand. Things that I haven’t experienced or lived, that others have. It’s time to ask questions, to seek to better understand, to better empathize, to better question, and to better pray. Scripture says, “Learn to do good.” Learning is a process. Sometimes what we think is good actually hurts others. During this season, it is appropriate and timely to ask questions, but remember, there is a difference in just asking questions and seeking answers and wisdom.
We must learn to do good. Whether it’s learning how to live as better neighbors, or just how to live and not spread a virus, it’s going to take learning and adjusting.
Seek, Rebuke, and Plead
To do these well, we end up where scripture will always lead; obedience… We need the wisdom to walk away from the doors of action that the Lord closes in front of us, (the unwise and wide unholy path,) and the courage to walk through the doors He opens, (narrow is the way.)
So, as we emerge from our Covid hibernation, into a world full of tumult, our days hold new challenges and new opportunity. What shall we make of it? Shall our country go the way of Israel, and not face its shortcomings, and thus face deserved judgement, or will we turn to the instructions in scripture and act in obedience and trust.
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
C.S. Lewis
Kingdom Growers 