For the Lord GOD
does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.
I need to know what God is doing, what He wants done. I don’t think He is too concerned about a
shutdown of the federal government. I
knew a man who used to pray for the national debt. It doesn’t seem like he did much good. Maybe he gave up. Perhaps it would have been more productive to
pray that people would turn from idolatry and live holy lives by faith in
Christ. Holy people are not going to be
supportive of the kinds of policies that lead to massive government debt. Western nations are being systematically
destroyed because they have deified democracy and made government into a false
god. It does not matter how successful
this effort appears in the short term, the long term is very, very
patient.
If I want the Lord to do something in my life, to give me a
reason for my existence and a destiny toward which I may chart my course, He
has to reveal that to me. I can make up
something and visualize it. I may even
be able to bring it to pass. The
combination of human reason, imagination, and will is a powerful force that can
achieve much. It may even reach an end
that would be judged objectively good.
Apart from God, though, even the most glorious of temporal victories
will pass away like a vapor.
I am not a prophet in the sense that Amos or Ezekiel
was. Most likely no one reading this is
either. Nevertheless, we can know what
is real, what is true, and what is God’s will. The first step toward a higher insight is to
stop letting the world dictate to us and fit us into its mold. That’s what Romans 12:1-2 states, pretty
plainly: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present
your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your
spiritual worship. Do not be conformed
to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing
you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and
perfect. Instead of offering
ourselves for the world to use, we can offer ourselves to the Lord, who will
give us understanding and godly wisdom. Try
it out, Paul says. I need to test my
choices, my thoughts, my imaginations by prayer and by God’s word. I can know if I am out of sync.
A lot of people claim to know what the future holds. The vast majority are speaking out of the fog
of fleshly thinking. They will be,
ultimately, wrong. My job is much less
prognostication than humble seeking and vigilant obedience. The ends will take care of themselves.
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