Heal Our Land

2 Chronicles 7:13-16

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 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. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there."

Isaiah 51:1-3

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was only one man, and I blessed him and made him many. The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing."

The Lord is so amazing! I love how His mercies are new every morning. Because of the Lord's mercies, my strength has been renewed!

Yesterday, I went to the National Day of Prayer at City Hall, and I was tremendously blessed. I have been in Isaiah 51 this week. I wasn't quite sure what the Lord was trying to show me, until today, when I was pondering on the National Day of Prayer at City Hall and the praying for our nation. Naturally 2 Chronicles 7:14 comes to mind when praying for the nation. I then realized to key in on the first part of Isaiah 51. Do you see the connection? While we often tend to look at scriptures for the physical relevance - healing of our nation the land that is continually growing darker and darker... Isaiah 51 also makes you go to the natural - making deserts like Eden, and wastelands like the garden. But let us go deeper. Let us internalize it, is there healing needing to happen in our own lives? I do believe we are the ones pursuing righteousness, wanting to seek the Lord. I truly believe God wants us to live a blessed life, even when things in the natural seem so difficult. It's interesting how when turmoil strikes in my life, I turn to God - who else can you turn to in times of trouble. And God will send some amazing people who spoke life into me. There is nothing better than a word of encouragement when you are going through a rough time. It is like finding that stream of water in the desert wasteland. You can see where I'm going with this. Before we can even make a difference in this world, we have to first look at ourselves. Are we pursuing God's righteousness, or are we pursing man's righteousness or even our own righteousness? Hebrews 12:14 tells us to, Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Looking at your life right now, are you able to reflect God's holiness? Until we recognize the sin in our own lives, how are we to reflect God's holiness? How are we to be the righteous in this dark nation, so that when Abraham beckons with the Lord, if there are just 5 righteous, will you save the land? If we give into the society's way of thinking, would we still be counted as righteous to save our nation from the wrath of God? Is our physical bodies healthy enough to withstand the attacks of the enemy? You see, even before our nation can receive the healing, we first need to receive our healing. The promise in 2 Chronicles begins with humbling and turning from wicked ways. Before the Lord will comfort us, and look on us with compassion, and turn our deserts in to Eden and our wastelands into a garden, we have to first pursue His righteousness and seek Him. Are we seeking the Lord when sickness hits our bodies? Are we seeking the Lord when our finances seem to be diminishing? Are we seeking the Lord when everything around us seems to be in turmoil? I know that God is willing to move in our lives, but we first have to humble ourselves, turn from our wicked ways, pursue righteousness, and seek the Lord. Let us seek the Lord, and enter into His presence... the Holy of Holies!!!