Wake-up Calls

Isaiah 57:15-21 (NIV)  For this is what the high and exalted One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy:  “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of me—the very people I have created. I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways. I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners, creating praise on their lips; ‘Peace, peace, to those far and near,’” says the LORD. “And I will heal them.” But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

            Today our Nation remembers the events now known as 9-11. And I remember at the time the amazing wake-up call to unity our Nation engaged in, and how strong the Christian presence was in our Nation during those days. But as I look back, what could have been an enduring change seemed to last only mere months. Now it is relegated to a yearly observance. Yes we mourn the loss of innocent lives, yes we are thankful for the valiant heroes…but the wake-up call for our Nation has significantly dwindled. In my humble opinion, COVID was another wake-up call for our Nation; Afghanistan, Ukraine, the border wall, fires, floods, you name it—how many wake-up calls does our Nation need? …yet they kept on in their willful ways. Where is that strong Christian presence in our Nation now, and are we part of it?

 

Gracious Heavenly Father,

            You have warned us time and again to turn to you as individuals and also as a Nation. Yet we keep on plodding along in our own desires. Forgive us. Our only hope is that you have promised not to remain angry, and you have in fact provided a means of salvation through your only Son. Only when we turn our contrite and crushed spirits to You will we find true comfort and peace, for there can be no lasting peace otherwise. Heal our Nation, guide us back to You.

            In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen.

           

The devotional Wake-up Calls appeared first on Write From My Heart at https://writefrommyheartblog.blogspot.com

email: Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com