We Are Out Of Control
“For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein. And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life. For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.” (Jer. 4:22-31
The above verses were given by Jeremiah to Judah as a warning of judgment to come. They sound very much like they could be a warning for us today. When you listen to the news today you wonder how things could get much worse but it always seems like they do! We are living in perilous times and sometimes it really feels like we are out of control. We have become so focused on ourselves and what we are doing and how we are doing it that we have lost perspective.
On an individual level we seem to have lost the ability to communicate with each other. They have given us all these electronic devices to be able to communicate with people all over the world and yet we can hardly put two sentences together to actually speak to one another. We hardly ever actually listen to what the other person is saying because we are too busy thinking about the next item we want to text or email or put on Facebook. As Christians we have lost our brotherly love for one another and we seem to let the world influence the way we communicate and deal with each other. It is happening everywhere. It is a tough world out there and we must build up and support each other as much as we can. Sometimes I think it is no wonder many people see Christianity as being phony when the behavior of many Christians can often be worse than non-Christians. I have heard this from my friends who go to various churches and have had to deal with people who are trouble makers and mean to each other. One of my friends has experienced this in her own Christian family where there are brothers and sisters not talking to one another. How foolish and how sad.
On a worldly level there are so many things happening it is hard to know what to say. The other day I was reminded of the comparison of events happening today as to a small snow ball rolling down a hill getting bigger and bigger as it rolls down the hill. It feels like that to me. The tension is building and building and more and more events are happening everywhere. At the time of writing this article the Germanwings plane crashed killing 150 people. They are now reporting that the co-pilot deliberately flew the plane into the mountain when the captain went to the washroom. There is something terribly wrong with our world! I worked in the airline industry for 30 years and there was never a thought that this could ever happen. The pilots I knew or met were always proud of what they did and loved flying planes. They would never consider losing a plane or especially losing 150 people. My father worked in the airline industry as well doing aircraft maintenance and he was in charge of the engine shop. I remember him taking his job very seriously and when he would hear that a plane had crashed somewhere in the world he would be devastated. That is what the airline industry was like. It has changed just like everything else in this world.
We have lost our way. This world is a hot bed of events just waiting to explode and we are becoming weary waiting on the Lord, but He is near. Isaiah 45:18 is similar to Jeremiah 4:23. Isaiah 45:18 says “For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else”.
Jeremiah’s words speak of a cataclysmic event both heavenly and earthly. Isaiah is reminding us that it is God that is in control. He formed the earth and will never utterly destroy it. Our salvation is in the Lord.
will end with these words from Isaiah 45:20-22, “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside me; a just God and Savior: there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.”
