What is God Doing in this Chaos?
By Wanda Ulrey, Guest Contributor
Charles Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” describing a time in the 1700’s. In that same era, the First Great Awakening happened in America which for the most part focused on people who were already church members, pulling them away from ritual and ceremony only and making religion “personal” to the average person.
Does Dickens describe our current situation today?
Can all this “social distancing” make religion “personal” to us?
Do we really want to know what God is doing in the midst of this chaos?
Let me tell you - this is an exciting day in which we live.
The “personal” relationship we have with Jesus Christ, who is PEACE, will cause us to walk in a supernatural peace.
Prayer in the name of Jesus Christ gives us God’s perspective in this time as we learn to ask, seek, knock and LISTEN. His desire is to open our eyes to His GOODNESS and MERCY - to open our eyes to our purpose and destiny. We have not been this way before, the prophets say. We need a “daily” GPS (Holy Spirit) to lead us. Prayer connects us with this GPS that will lead us into PEACE.
James 4:8 says to “draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands (sound familiar right now), you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
Worship and prayer bring us into His Presence and draw us near to God.
Have we become double-minded in all our busyness here in America? God wants to purify our hearts, NOT condemn us.
It does not matter if we “think” we can’t pray. Just start a conversation with the Lord. Start where you are. It is like any relationship, and it will grow as you draw near - falling in love with Jesus. This relationship with Jesus depends on you and your desire for intimacy. Jesus showed us how to connect with the Father. He is a good, good Father who touches our hearts with His love and heals our wounds.
The Word of God is our necessary help in times of peace and times of chaos.
Let’s look at the life of David. In Acts 13:22 in the Passion Translation, we read “…God raised up David to be King… a man who always pursues my heart and will accomplish all that I have destined him to do.”
David was not a “perfect” man. He sinned and fell short, but he would return to God. He wrote many of the Psalms when he was a shepherd, in a cave, running from Saul. Many of them he wrote after he had committed adultery. You can read all about his ups and downs.
The challenge we see from looking at David’s life is this: Start where you are, whether you are up or down right now. The Bible is full of people just like us full of weaknesses, fears, and pains, BUT GOD….. “He never leaves us nor forsakes us”.
We are still writing the book of Acts in these days. God wants us to continue to share the KINGDOM OF GOD with BOLDNESS and WITHOUT HINDRANCE. As we draw near and pray, Jesus - the WORD according to the book of John - will give us the boldness and the courage to step out as Christians Engaged into our world.
It starts with a cry and a heart that wants to connect with God and to have a “personal” relationship with Him.
Whatever we go through, the Word of God is a guidebook; and with the help of our GPS (Holy Spirit), our life becomes His journey with us.
What is God doing in the midst of this chaos?
God is drawing us near to Himself, to be like the apostles in the Bible, and to bring His Kingdom to earth in this time in His supernatural power as we continue to write the book of Acts.
Let it be known of us in this time……”these men (women) who have turned the world upside down have come here also.” (Acts 17:6)
Let it be said of our lives—it was the best of times.
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