Facing Reality
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24
Did you know that nothing shocks God? We are living in a world today where things are happening that most of us would never have thought could happen. If folks who passed away twenty years ago could come back and see how the world has changed, and not for the better I might add, I imagine they would have a really difficult time believing what they were seeing. I even have a hard time believing some of the things that I hear and read. Of course, we can’t believe everything that we hear, but even if only ten per cent of the events, ideas, and/or changes that are occurring are real, it is still overwhelming to witness. It is all happening so fast. I heard the late Adrian Rogers on the radio say several years ago that when the events of the end times begin, they will increase exponentially. If he could return to earth today, he would probably say, “I told you so”!
Some of us can’t help but wonder why God doesn’t do something about all the evil going on in the world, but He has been dealing with evil since He created man. He has been rejected by untold numbers of people from Adam and Eve all the way to the present. Hearing people curse His name, dishonor Him and Christ, and deny Him is nothing new to Him. We might think, “How much more of this rejection can God take?” What? Is He not capable of bearing hatred against Himself? He proved His strength, power, and resolve when He died on Calvary’s cross after suffering excruciating pain and abandonment by those who were His closest companions.
We act as though all this wickedness going on around us is something new. It is true that, as stated earlier, things are happening that have never occurred to most of us. However, even if we haven’t imagined it before, Solomon said that there is nothing new under the sun. Been there, done that. Whatever happens has happened before (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10). We just forget. What is happening now, assuming that the world will last another hundred years, will be forgotten by those who come after us (Ecclesiastes 1:11). Evil will be with us until Jesus returns to rule which can’t be soon enough for me and for many other believers. If God seems like He is allowing such ungodly events to occur without judgment, nothing is getting by Him. He will respond perhaps sooner rather than later. Sometimes it was many years before ancient Israel paid the penalty for her disobedience and idolatry. God doesn’t wear a Timex or even a Rolex, and His plan is coming together whether we can see it or not.
While we can certainly stand for truth and remain on the side of righteousness, we can’t change the hearts of folks. And besides, who said that we were perfect? King David recognized that he fell far short of what God required of him, but his desire was to be the man that God intended. In my estimation, it takes a courageous and bold person to ask God to search the heart, to look into every corner and crevice of one’s soul and analyze every single thought that passes through the mind. How many could pass that test with flying colors? Not only is courage required to put oneself under God’s microscope, how else can disobedience and pride be rooted out, and the old sin nature diminished and the spirit of one’s mind be renewed (Ephesians 4:23)?
I wrote this blog a week ago before the events of August 14th and 15th took place. There is so much happening now that it is beginning to be overwhelming trying to take it all in. The pandemic seems like it will never go away regardless of vaccines, social distancing, masks, etc. Haiti just experienced another earthquake, killing hundreds of people, and they are bracing now for a hurricane. Afghanistan swiftly fell into the hands of those who disregard life and seek to control their entire population. They may also eventually attack the U.S. There are thousands of people coming across the southern border of the U.S., many with COVID and also some who are criminals. For all we know, some are terrorists determined to harm the citizens of our nation. The events are coming quickly. We likely wake up each new day and wonder what will happen in the next 24 hours.
Even as bad as it is, God is not taken by surprise. He will work it all out on His timetable just as He has planned. Our responsibility is to trust Him and live as He would require. The line for spiritual examination begins here. Who wants to be first?