"They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD;
and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted. "
Isa 62:12 NIV
and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted. "
Isa 62:12 NIV
Change. The constant and and unchanging element of the world we live in. A paradox in itself. As Christians, we have always wanted and prayed for a better city, a better economy, a better country. We stage all these prayer rallies and fasting services and hope that God shall visit our country and initiate social, moral and spiritual revival! We pray that God uses us as Agents of Change in this Nation. And yes, we must eagerly seek God in prayer, we must desire to be used by God to change this nation. For countless years, Christians have been doing the same thing, praying.. fasting... program implementation... praying... fasting... conference thingy... almost as if God is contained in some formula.
That is just the thing. God isn't contained in a formula. Yes there are conditions that God requires of us, but that doesn't mean God will come in the same way He came and manifested Himself elsewhere. God will not be staged.
Aside from Prayer, Humility and Obedience, there is one aspect that I would like to tackle now; Us, being Agents of Change.
We keep asking God to use us to change our environment, but do we let God change us first?
In the passage we see that God will change and bless the land, AFTER the people become holy and set apart. I don't think blessing and redeeming a city, region or even country is a problem for God. The past decade has shown us that it can happen. God has used the most unlikely of people (even not of the clergy!) and the most unlikely of methods to cause revival and restoration in the Land.
Before God used Moses to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt, he worked in his life first, allowing Moses to grow in his relationship with God. Before Joshua led the Israelites to conquer the land of Canaan, God allowed Joshua to grow from Moses' aide into a godly leader. Joshua sought the Lord to the extent that he would sleep near the tent of meeting, because he wanted to be near God in every possible way. Even Jesus prepared for 30 years before starting His earth shaking ministry. Paul met God in Damascus in order to see and know the fullness of God.
How about us?
Are we so set in seeking God and allowing our minds and hearts to be conformed to that of Christ? Or do we get hurt and offended when God shows us aspects of our life that need to be dealt with? Do we spend quality time with God? Not the 15-30minutes of daily devotion, but an honest to goodness time spent immersing ourselves in worship and in God's Word? Or do we try to fit God into our daily schedules?
Is God the King and Ruler of our life or is He just the Divine Handyman who is called upon when things are out of control?
Do we really expect God to change our environment if we do not allow Him to change us first?
How about properly spending quality time with God today? Allow Him to change what needs to be changed in us first, then, just like in Isaiah, the change to our City, Region and even Nation will burst forth like a damn letting loose the floodwaters of revival!
