God's Time
Walter Chantry writes in this month's Banner of Truth about the degradation of our society, citing "violent abortions, violent euthanasia, battering of wives and children, shootings in schools by fellow students and sexual predators, bombings, riots, and road rage" as crimes "increasing in formerly Christian nations of the West." We could easily add more evidence of our culture's deterioration, paraded as it is in the daily news media. So we pray for the only answer to these problems: revival, a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit which would sweep across our land, bringing millions to repentance and restoring the moral foundations our nation desperately needs.
And yet it seems like God is silent and inactive. Depravity and violence are increasing. Perversity and ungodliness run rampant and are even celebrated. And yet it seems God is silent, and no revival is in sight. How are we to live in such times? Why does God remain silent? "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3).
It is easy to forget that God's providential wisdom is beyond our capacity to understand. Hundreds of years may go by before He acts. Thousands of years may pass before judgment falls. Remember the ancient psalmists and prophets crying out, "How long, O Lord?" While we live in depraved and violent times, it is proper to cry out to God, but is also imperative to trust in God. Our churches may be half empty, and our children falling victim to drugs, pornography, and gang warfare, but God will act. God will either bring down swift and awful justice upon our nation, or He may once again "rend the heavens and come down," carrying with him tender mercy and blessings.
Many godly men and women suffered horribly when Israel was carried away into Babylonian captivity. It may be our lot to live our entire lives oppressed and astonished at the evil around us. The antidote to despair, however, is the knowledge that God knows and rescues His own. We cannot manufacture revival, nor can we program growth. In God's time His Spirit will go forth. In God's time His Son will return. In God's time evil will be vanquished forever. We live in this blessed hope, and so we remain prayerful, devoted servants to the Triune God. The news may be bad, but the good news of the Gospel shall triumph over all evil in the end.
And yet it seems like God is silent and inactive. Depravity and violence are increasing. Perversity and ungodliness run rampant and are even celebrated. And yet it seems God is silent, and no revival is in sight. How are we to live in such times? Why does God remain silent? "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3).
It is easy to forget that God's providential wisdom is beyond our capacity to understand. Hundreds of years may go by before He acts. Thousands of years may pass before judgment falls. Remember the ancient psalmists and prophets crying out, "How long, O Lord?" While we live in depraved and violent times, it is proper to cry out to God, but is also imperative to trust in God. Our churches may be half empty, and our children falling victim to drugs, pornography, and gang warfare, but God will act. God will either bring down swift and awful justice upon our nation, or He may once again "rend the heavens and come down," carrying with him tender mercy and blessings.
Many godly men and women suffered horribly when Israel was carried away into Babylonian captivity. It may be our lot to live our entire lives oppressed and astonished at the evil around us. The antidote to despair, however, is the knowledge that God knows and rescues His own. We cannot manufacture revival, nor can we program growth. In God's time His Spirit will go forth. In God's time His Son will return. In God's time evil will be vanquished forever. We live in this blessed hope, and so we remain prayerful, devoted servants to the Triune God. The news may be bad, but the good news of the Gospel shall triumph over all evil in the end.
posted by Scribe at 9:00 AM
2 Comments:
Thank you, Scott. I am glad to meet a fellow "Banner of Truth magazine reader." Of course, with me working at the Banner, it's a bit understood, I guess. I will pass your comments along to Walt; I think he will be happy to read them. May you be filled with the knowledge of His will this day, brother! God bless.
Steve
www.trophiesofhisgrace.blogspot.com
Wow! Thanks Steve. I love the Banner very much and have been reading it for more than 17 years, and attending the conferences. I also value Walt's books and articles. The Banner changed my life, steering me to a treasure trove of Puritan and Reformed literature. God bless you all.
Scott.
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