Mission Venture Ministries

If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14) 

Following the dedication of the magnificent temple to God, this was the advice given to Solomon by his Maker. 

Much like our nation, Israel was at its historic height of power and prosperity. So why was God telling Solomon that His people needed to turn from their wicked ways? Because God knows us, He knows that, in the midst of peace and prosperity, when things seem to be going good people tend to forget the Lord by going our own way. 

In His love and mercy, God outlines our way back to Him. So what is God’s instruction? It is pretty straightforward. It requires our humbling; our earnest prayer, seeking God with our whole heart, and turning from our wicked ways. 

We tend to think that other people need to stop being such sinners. Why can’t they just turn from their wicked ways so we can all be blessed by God and live together in peace and harmony? 

We are tempted to point the finger at other people and say their sin is to blame. But God says it’s our sin. Many of us don’t want to talk or even think about sin. We know the Word says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But many don’t really focus on that. Most of us agree we aren’t perfect, but we aren’t all that bad, are we? Sure, we’ve all made “mistakes.” 

Much of the time we know right from wrong so why chose to do wrong? Because we thought it wasn’t really all that wrong? Because we thought we could get away with it? Because everyone does it? Or maybe just because it made us feel good? But by now the reality of our foolish and intentional choices has already set in. 

The little seeds of sin, those things that felt “right in our own eyes,” take root in our hearts and grow until they are full grown. Then comes the reaping: the broken hearts and relationships, the damaged spiritual, emotional or physical health. That wasn’t part of our dreams. 

We ignored the truth that sin is pleasurable for a season (Hebrews 11:25), but then come the consequences. Unfortunately, there’s more truth we prefer to ignore, but we must remember that “judgment must begin with the House of God” (1 Peter 4:17). 

God’s anger is particularly kindled against His people. Why? Because He paid the ultimate price with His life to redeem us, He opened our eyes to the truth and we experienced His grace and His goodness. And yet, in so many ways, we have chosen to turn our back on Him and gone astray by going our own way. 

Many of His people have lost their desire to be unique, to be separated from the world so that they can please Him. Unfortunately many find themselves more focused on personal happiness and less in personal holiness. 

Today there is very little difference in the moral metrics between “Christians” and the world. Is it because we have deposed God Almighty and elevated our pleasures to reign on the throne of our lives? Is that why our culture suddenly feels like a run-away train? Are our attitudes to blame? 

Some have spread the lie that people don’t need to turn from their sin because “God will understand.” Some even go so far as to teach that what we used to call sin isn’t sin anymore. In an attempt to embrace the sinner, some have ended up endorsing the sin. And some have even joined in rebuking and mocking those who remain true to God’s Word (Isaiah 5:20-24). 

Jesus calls us hypocrites when He said; “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules” (Matthew 15:7-9). So what can we do about it? God has a solution; He is bringing us to an awareness of our need for spiritual re-awakening. 

Think of the most proud person you know. They usually are arrogant. They know it all. They are not teachable. They have all the answers. And if they don’t have the answer, they’re pretty sure they’re smart enough to figure it out on their own. They certainly don’t need anyone else to tell them how to live their lives! 

But what does God’s word say? “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a person who listens to advice is wise” (Proverbs 12:15). 

Isaiah 55:9 states, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” His ways are the best ways; they are the right ways; His ways will bring us peace and security knowing that we are obeying our Creator. God’s ways may not seem or feel right to us because of our limited understanding. That is why we need to humble ourselves. We need to admit we don’t know it all. We need to allow ourselves to be taught His ways. And we only can be taught when we humble ourselves. 

Let’s come in humility before our Almighty and All-Wise, All-Knowing God, admitting that He is God and we are not, that His ways are higher than our ways. Let’s ask Him to lead us in His ways. 

In this world God transforms tragedies into triumphs in His time as we each learn to trust and obey our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We need to remember that tragedies create opportunities to deepen our dependence in our loving Father because He is the ultimate source Who give us strength. 

We need to remember that the life and the testimony we live each day becomes our legacy of tomorrow. We need to reflect Jesus in everything we think, say and do and be a witness to the unbelieving world of the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. The greatest legacy we can leave behind is our love for the Lord, our love for brothers and sisters and for a lost world that desperately needs to hear about salvation before it is too late. 

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