I have heard all about you, Lord. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by. And in your anger, remember your mercy. I see God moving across the deserts from Edom, the Holy One coming from Mount Paran. His brilliant splendor fills the heavens, and the earth is filled with his praise. His coming is as brilliant as the sunrise. Rays of light flash from his hands, where his awesome power is hidden. Pestilence marches before him; plague follows close behind. When he stops, the earth shakes. When he looks, the nations tremble. He shatters the everlasting mountains and levels the eternal hills. He is the Eternal One! Habakkuk 3:2-6
A friend came to me years ago to ask for help. I responded immediately, because the need was
there, and this was my friend. Simple as
that; end of story. Reflecting on the
prophet’s words, I thought of my friend and what my response might have been if
he weren’t in the friend category; what if he were my enemy…what
would I have done?
Prayer is a little more complicated, but like that. We are now in as deep a need for the hand of
God as can be. But the question is still
the same, for God’s consideration, as mine about my friend…what if we’re not
the friends of God? Will it do any good,
not being His friend, to ask for relief from the many dangers that encircle the
camp?
Habakkuk’s words are like any of the other prophets. He speaks of the majesty of the Eternal One,
His splendor displayed in creation, along with judgment measured by pestilence and
plagues. When God arrives, the earth
rocks and nations tremble. Just a word
and a mountain crumbles; this is the God of judgment and grace. The question becomes, for those who are
accustomed to turning to God for help in times of distress, which God are we
asking to show up? Is it the one who
holds forgiving grace and mercy, or the one whose fingers flash in destruction
and judgment?
The answer to that question is dependent on who’s asking. When a friend asks, he is evoking the meaning
of friendship as a fulfillment of friendship vows. When an enemy asks, he is implicitly throwing
himself at the feet of the judge, asking for mercy. Friends have a right to ask; enemies can
expect nothing.
So the question begs another: are
we, in American culture (or any other nation on earth) friends or foe to the
Eternal One? And this is not a question
about what we say – that would be cheap grace. How have we acted? What is the measure of our reasons for asking
for our “friend’s” help in this time of our deep need? Or should we be recognizing the enemy status
we’ve courted, and just throw ourselves down in front of the bench for the
mercy of the judge?
Well, as if a lover picking the petals off a daisy chants, let me
count the ways…
·
War after war
·
Empty church after empty church
·
Homeless and starving amid a “Christian
nation”
·
Aborted lives in favor of choice
·
Anger and politics the answer to just
about everything
As a nation the popular vote seems to be to count on God’s friendship like
the Emperor loved his new suit of invisible clothes; we’re rather naked in the
end.
For You Today
Please
know there are tears ready to flow from my eyes in the next sentence.
If
you’re prone to pray for your nation this day (or any other) pray for God to
have mercy on us; we’re hardly in the friend category.
Title image, Pixabay.com and W Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
For other posts on Prayer see: Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayers? and
Bi-Polar Prayers
