But you, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations. -- Lamentations 5:19
When Jeremiah wrote his lamentations down, things were about
as bad as they could get: We must pay for the water we drink; the wood
we get must be bought … we are weary; we are given no rest … [w]e have given
the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria, to get bread enough … [s]laves rule over us …
[w]omen are raped in Zion, young women in the towns of Judah. Princes are hung up by their hands; no
respect is shown to the elders (vv. 4-12).
What was true of Jerusalem in the days of the prophet is
true today in churches. I started to say
“in the Body of Christ”, but I don’t think that is possible. There is too much nominal Christianity, too
much of a mixed multitude. It is the
apostates that have gone over to the world (Egypt) and surrendered to the
demonic (Assyria) because they could find no rest in Christ, no satisfaction in
the Bread of Life. We find leaders in so
many of the churches of America are enslaved to lust, greed, gluttony, and
perversion yet think themselves fit to be in authority over God’s people. While the Lord invites us to drink of the
Water of Life freely, those who preach the gospel for fun and profit will tell us
that God won’t help us unless we give them our money.
Bad as it may be in the Church, it is worse in the
world. Governments are not bound by the
rule of law. Oppression, violence, tyranny
and corruption run wild from the highest levels of society to the lowest. Much of an addled populace is placated by
shabby, shallow entertainment, drugs, junk food, and government checks. Our
nation is in a debt-spiral to collapse.
Antichrist religions are on the rise, and nihilism is about the only
philosophy that makes sense to otherwise intelligent people who have cut
themselves off from God.
But, the Lord reigns.
The Lord is sovereign. He has
never lost control. He does not
panic. He is not worried. Nothing is happening that He can’t
handle. To understand this is to fear
the Lord, and the fear of the Lord is not only the beginning of wisdom but
peace in the storms of life. We don’t
deny the horrors around us or pretend that our troubles do not exist. Instead wisdom tells us to get out of the
path of destruction when we can but to never fear what may come for it all
comes from the strong, gentle hand of God.
