“But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, and He was found by them. In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” 2 Chronicles 15:4-7 (NIV)
“If you ignore what God is using to stir our souls to the deepest level because you say it’s just political you are missing the greatest opportunity ever to shine light into the darkness and “occupy until” Jesus returns.” Don Lamb
It’s very interesting that in the above Old Testament passage it says there was a time of great distress and one nation was attacking another and one city was attacking another. There was all this upheaval and God was stirring up the people. For years, as I’ve read this passage, I’ve thought, “Well they were sinful so God was judging them with chaos. He was punishing them with distressing circumstances.” It only makes sense. And there are times God does this. But more recently, I’ve seen this passage as a merciful intervention. A kind of “tumultic awakening” so God didn’t have to destroy them. A deeply corrective spanking.
As I pondered God’s mercy in their time of tumult, I was thinking wow God was bringing about upheaval to make them desperate for Himself. So I was realizing that the providence of God gets engaged to take a comfortable people that are just doing their own thing and He begins to make them realize that the world that they are living in is temporary and without Him it becomes a trap.
Historically, nations become so attached to flesh and they create systems of manipulation, comfort, entertainment, and pleasure that God has to come in and disrupt them so they seek after Him. Consequently, God initiates seasons of disruption because nations become so lukewarm; so attached to the earth that they need discomfort to awaken them. This has been the cycle of human history forever and we are in one of those seasons right now.
Bringing this up-to-date: There are people who say, “Oh, you guys worship Donald Trump and you’re trusting the Republican Party to fix all the tumult that is in America. You are in political idolatry.” You’ve got to be kidding me. There is no ultimate hope in anything we touch on this planet.
We go to work every day – not knowing if our job will be there in six months, we have to trust the Lord will provide for us. We go to the doctor trusting God as our healer not knowing what is attacking our health but believing He will sustain us. We get involved in the battle to save this wicked nation from the anti-Christ agendas by praying our way through the endless messes and getting involved at the gates of influence, desperate for His undertaking in this sin-sick nation.
Because this is true, we get on our face before the Lord and pour out our cries of faith for intervention – not knowing how long it will be before He relents and crashes into this distressful season. We partner with God in the day-to-day practical spheres of influence as He continues shaking the Church awake and brings forth revival and reformation, and global awakening.
It is clearly obvious that there’s a great disruption going on. I cannot imagine our nation right now without God providentially allowing Donald Trump to come on the scene and being used to disrupt everything. Before 2016 governmentally we were finished – we didn’t know it. We were CAPTURED and didn’t know it. We were asleep and didn’t know it. We were the proverbial frog in the kettle at the final level of destruction.
But now we’re awake. God hasn’t fully manifested our deliverance yet. We are still on the distressed side of the equation. But many are alarmed and all these things are healthy and they’re making us desperate for God Himself. As a result, we are purposefully putting God in the center of the impossibility of this distressing season. We are crying out to Him for deliverance concerning the things that are going on. The distress is working its purpose even though we groan through the process. May we be found faithful in the individual and corporate missions God is calling us to live out as He brings about His interventions.
Relentless Expectation 