With the ever changing landscape of our new normalcy God has been whispering to my spirit. Lean in. Draw near. Trust more. Fear less. Urging me to turn off Fox News, CNN and Apple News. Challenging me to take off the lenses of doubt and replace it with a spirit of peace. He whispered a double minded person will not survive. I was reading this morning Matthew 21: 12-17. There it tells of story of Jesus riding on a donkey on his way to the temple. When he arrives he is angry. The people were abusing the temple. Using it for their own self good. It’s says Jesus looks around and saw they had made his house into a place of sin. What was displayed in their hearts was displayed in their deeds.
This had me reflect on our world. God carefully and masterfully created this world as a place for us to glorify him with our words, actions and the way we live. Instead we live selfishly, greedily and unlovely. We ignore the hurting, shun the poor and give into the things that bring us momentary satisfaction. We put pleasure over morality. Happiness over holiness. Freedom over empathy. We call on him when we are desperate. When we have no other avenue. When the world we have felt so secure in now makes no sense. We have exhausted all our options. Looked at every solution, and realized our worldly knowledge means nothing.
Our world is filled with violence, racism, strife and division. Our deeds reflect what is in our hearts. God is using this time of quiet and closure to change our hearts. He wants our world to reflect his goodness, his mercy and his grace. We should be bearing the fruits of the spirit. Walking in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self control. Our world should reflect his delicate craftsmanship and intentionality. Our world should be a place where people feel safe, loved, appreciated and whole. It says in Haggai 2:9 that “The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace.”
What a beautiful place that would be when people’s actions and words reflect his truth and promise. When our light will shine so bright that we will not be hidden. When Christ followers unite and show everyone that the church is not just building but a way of life. That Christianity is not a word or religion but it is reflected in everything about us. How we speak, act and treat others. That is the glory that Christ is giving us the opportunity to see if we push in to him and change our hearts. I simply wrote:
Lord be all my life
Be everything I need
Be everything I want
Be everything I desire
Be my calm during the storm
Be my peace during the chaos
Be my silence amongst the rumbling
Lord just be…..