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So, obviously I haven’t posted for two weeks, which is the longest hiatus I’ve taken from this site since I started this in 2019. The simple truth is grief. It hits us all in different ways, but it hits us none-the-less and personally, the death of my dear friend has proven a far greater loss than even I would have previously supposed. His absence is palpable and the silence is deafening…
When we left off, we had been taking a closer look into the character of God revealed in scripture – and today runs on that same theme, though from a bit of a different perspective. You see, when I attended my friends memorial service, I sat with a man who I’d not seen in some time – another exceptional individual who tends to be both purposeful, and deep. He turned to me at one point and asked a very direct question (as is his style) and, while we discussed it at some length at the time, the question has lingered with me – because it is as unsettling as it is fair – as questions go.
What he posed went like so;
Suppose you had a best friend – through thick and thin, you had each other’s back, yet every day you went to this friend and asked him for help and, each day, he did not fulfill your request. After years of this, what would be the point in continuing to ask?
I told you, it’s a good question right?
I’m sure you can see the corollary here, but in case you missed it, the “friend” in this circumstance is God and the request ~ well that’s prayer.
Here’s the thing, what are we to do when we pray into a matter for years on end with no answer in sight? At least not one that seems favorable.
As an example, drawing from my experience as a U.S. citizen; we have an illegitimate government resulting from a stolen election – yet nothing has been done. We see the increase in societal pressure to play along with individual fantasies of being something other than what we are, and moreover, castigating those who will not bow the knee. We’ve seen public outcry over the throwing down of slaughtering the unborn amidst cries of “my body, my choice” while simultaneously being told that we must accept an untested, unproven injection or be societal outcasts.
Around the world, we see livestock being blamed for “climate change” and being either taken or taxed, while people are being told to literally eat bugs – all at the behest of an unelected, un-appointed bureaucracy headed by a caricature of a James Bond villain.
Now, my friend never stated a specific issue, nor did he indicate that he was talking about anything other than the general principle I am addressing here. I’m not certain he was pointing to such lofty issues as I have presented – he may well have been dealing with a personal issue, but that’s not relevant to the present discussion.
Now, I ham-fistedly pointed to an old rabbinic parable which tells a tale of two men. One was wealthy and the other poor. Both were unknowingly in the vicinity of a vast treasure that would make them both extremely wealthy men. In the parable, the rich man found his treasure, while the poor man did not and the rabbinic explanation was that God prevented the man from finding the treasure because he would not have been able to handle the wealth.
The idea isn’t that poor people can’t handle money – but that God alone knows the outcome such a thing would have and, in His benevolence, prevents undue hardship from falling upon us. The long and the short of it is that “No” is a viable answer to our prayers and God does indeed say “No”.
Even with that discussion having been concluded, the question has continued to haunt me. I mean the examples cited previously stand as a stark illustration of issues I have personally prayed into for some time and yet justice and revelation seem elusive at best. It has led me to cry out the sentiments of Psalm 94 on more than one occasion;
O Lord, the God who avenges! O God who avenges, reveal your splendor.
Psalm 94:1 – 6
Rise up, O judge of the earth. Pay back the proud.
O Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked celebrate?
They spew out threats and speak defiantly; all the evildoers boast.
O Lord, they crush your people; they oppress the nation that belongs to you.
They kill the widow and the resident foreigner, and they murder the fatherless.
Now, to be fair, that Psalm takes a definitive turn at verse 7 and speaks of a coming justice… the question I find myself asking is when?
The fact is that we were never promised that things would go our way if we followed Him. In truth, we were promised the exact opposite. We were told that our enemies would include the members of our own households – that we would be despised for His name just as He Himself was despised. We were not told that our troubles would vanish, but that He would preserve us through them and give us peace in the midst of them.
As time wears on, I am coming to understand that the great revival I have long awaited is not coming on the heels of some grandiose revelation of truth to the masses – but in the midst of increasing persecution and pressure to accept, or at least pretend to accept a lie…
Years ago, Les tried to tell me that this would likely be the case, but I did not fully grasp the lesson until very recently.
Revival is coming, though like in ages past, it may only come on the heels of intense persecution.
Justice is coming – though it may not truly manifest until He does.
Restoration is coming, but that most definitely won’t manifest until He has ruled and Reigned through the Sabbath millennia.
So what do we do with all of this? We continue to try to walk as He walked. we continue to trust in Him because, undergirding it all is the fact that we were not called to walk by emotion or perception, but by faith. If we are His, then we are to remain faithful, to Him and to His word regardless of the circumstance. Though the days are dark – we are called to be salt… and light.
It remains my fervent hope that circumstance will change, that deceit, fraud and outright wickedness will be exposed and cast down. The timing of this however, for me at least, is now in serious question ~ and that is a bitter pill. I sincerely hope that this all proves to be for naught, but let me leave you with this question; are you prepared to walk with Him come what may?
I hope so. I am.
There is no “plan b”.
Until next time,
שלום עליכם – Shalom Aleichem – Peace Be Upon You