““The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills, and I will bring my people Israel back from exile. “They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God.”
Amos 9:13-15 NIV
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus, we have seen the power of Your hand at work in this world. We have seen Your mighty acts and witnessed Your gracious hand at work. And yet we wonder. The struggles of understanding the why of what is happening, of what has happened. The presence of evil in our world confounds our enlightened sensitivities. Cries rise up from the grieving of destroyed communities, of broken lives, of people in disbelief. How can the multitude of tragedies exist in a world ruled by You?
In the hurting hearts of so many we are confronted with our limited understanding, with our broken faithfulness and these questions and others race through our minds. These questions are raised up by voices trying to believe, by voices trying to dissuade the faithful from believing. Our understanding struggles to make sense of the tension between Your sovereignty and the sin sick creation the is tearing itself apart. We want to define and make declarations apart from the revelation that You have given to us. Too many people want to use a prophetic voice with out being called to be a prophet for You.
Lord help us to live this life in the constant struggle of seeking You while being confronted by our limited life, our fragility overcoming our prideful ignorance, of getting lost in ourselves until we have no other choice but to call out to You for help, for mercy. Lord Jesus help us to grow into the life of abundance, of trust, of faithfulness that You have granted us. Teach us to live in the constant tension of not fully understanding but also of hoping and trusting in Your ongoing faithfulness. Lord we pray this in Your holy name. Amen.