Lord, I pray that You would intervine.
The world spirals out of control spurred on by madness. Lord, I pray, intervine.
Some believe that these days mark Your return. They cheer it on, even as they encourage the moral decline of America and Isreal, even as they slide into war and thirst for bloodshed. Dancing in some other spirit’s way. But to You, my Lord, I pray. Intervine.
They count the ways in which they have been wronged. They justify their schemes. They are always the victim and never the offender. Though in Life, Lord, I believe…
You preached Reconciliation. To set down the stones of blame. You preached of personal evaluation, to own the part we play. To examine our own hearts for sin and to pursue to make it right. Rather than to force our own will upon another to bend them down with all our might.
Rather than Retaliation, You taught us to be kind. You lifted us out of our vengeful preoccupation, and from that madness You cleared our mind.
Rather than a spirit of Domination, You taught us all to serve from low, not above. To share in the burden of those less fortunate and to speak of the Father’s Love To care which way the wayward soul goes. To guide by the Holy Spirit’s Light. You taught us to move mountains, perform miracles, and to make a way where there is no way even in darkest night.
You preached to the masses to forgive and be free. You embodied Grace, and even on the cross, You died to forgive all of us our aniquity. To wash away that sin that poisons us again and again.
Praise You, O’ God, our One Hope, our One Salvation, our only Way. Amen.
But the children play in the Blood as if Your Teachings were only a suggestion and not the Way. They dress in royal robes and proclaim perfection while their rotting corpses fade. Buried beneath plastic enhancements to hide the truth while leading each other astray. Dead men’s bones in white washed tombs, by another name.
So Lord, I pray. Intervine.
Love, kindness, peace, humility, honesty, integrity, virtue, wisdom, hope, faith, trust, protection, perseverance , healing, forgiveness, mercy, grace- these are the fruit of Your Spirit. From the seed You sow they grow. Wherever You have worked the land, this is the harvest of Your hand. And this is how we know- You are with us.
But if we do not seek peace, if we do not humble ourselves, if we seek to destroy others instead of pursuing their salvation, if we choose to save oursleves rather than Your Creation, if we choose to seek our own glory rather than Your Kingdom, then where are we? What are we? What have we become? Like 3 denials, 3 wrongs done, 3 chimes of a bell with no sound before the sun.
For without Your Love in our hearts do we not whither? Without Your Breath in our lungs, do we not die?
And yet we go away from You, our Source, as if there is any other. As if any place could even exist that we could hide.
The darkness comes to claim humanity. We stand facing our demise. But, Lo, we have a Savior who even now does not despise. He searches for the lost ones, our siblings, who are trapped and all alone. He comes. to bring each and every one of us back home. Hear Him, little ones, turn and know the Lord, the One who has travelled so very far to find you, to gather you up, and carry you back home.
You were meant for more than this. God’s Love is greater than all this. Drink of the Living Water and come back to Life.
Lord, please, intervine. Please, bring us back to Life. This is what I pray. In Jesus’ Name. In the Name of Christ. In the Name of the One Who saves. Who never forgets, and Who never fails us. Whose Name is above all other Names, Who bends low in order to lift us up even when we are at our lowest. Who does not think it beneath Him to bend low to raise us up high out of the muck. Such is the Love of God, Who I praise. Who I trust.
Amen.