Why God is Shaking the World

There's a song I hear once in a blue moon by John Cougar Mellencamp, with part of the lyrics that go: "Oh, yeah, life goes on, long after the thrill, of living is gone." Ever feel like that, like giving up? I used to but I had a change of heart. Life is worth living, but it's how we live that makes a difference.

Eat, drink and be merry

That's the prevailing attitude both in the world and in the church today. Everything the wicked do some people also do in the church. Many times we take our freedoms that we have in Christ Jesus to extremes and like swine wallow in the unholy.

"And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry”’ (Luke 12:19, NIV).

With this ongoing pandemic we have more fear of dying from the virus than a fear of the Lord!

We take our freedoms for granted and abuse them because we have forgotten the fear of the Lord. But God's people have boundaries and we often go beyond them. We do this because we have not fully submitted ourselves to the Lord our God. We have disregarded the fear of the Lord.

Fear of the Lord

The believer’s fear of the Lord is a reverence of God, a healthy respect for his awesomeness. But we forget this fear to our own shame and potential destruction or loss of reward.

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire" Hebrews 12:28-29, NIV).

The above verse is an example of the fear of the Lord. We don't have to fear Him as if He will punish our every sin, but He will discipline us to get our attention.

The blame game

We all know this game well. It occurs at the individual and the societal level. The current trend is to blame China for the pandemic, and perhaps rightly so, but this virus is nothing that God did not have foreknowledge of since before the foundation of the created universe.

You see, God is using this dark season of our lives to call us back to Him, and to call the lost to Him. But few of us are listening. We have become lackadaisical in our worship and prayer. We have forfeited the gathering amongst other believers and made excuses for it. We pursue self even when the pleasures we seek do us harm.

What does God require of us?

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge" (Psalm 19:7).

Until such a time as we come to we understand who God really is and evolve to have a reverential fear of Him, we cannot and will not ever have wisdom. Oh, we may have worldly wisdom, sure. However, true wisdom comes only from comprehending who God is. He is holy, just, and righteous. God is love.

"The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm,    and all of them are righteous" (Psalm 19:9, NIV).

This type of fear brings about cleansing and purity to our lives, so why do we ignore this? Are we too wrapped up in the things of this world and not our eternal future?

God is shaking the world

If you haven't been paying attention, our lives have changed drastically since the onset of the pandemic. And look what we did. We became more disciplined. We obeyed our government because the virus was serious. We submitted to authority to avoid crowds, stay home, and take special precautions. We submitted out of self-preservation.

But guess what - we don't do the same for our Creator! We do not fear Him as we should. We don't discipline ourselves and remain within the parameters He has established for us.

"Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
    Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not trust in an idol
    or swear by a false god" (Psalm 24:3-4, NIV).

God desires that we have a heart condition that is dedicated to Him and not the things of this world. These clean hands and a pure heart come from a fear of the Lord. But we fear those in our circle of friends more, what they will say about us. We fear being ostracized by our batch mates, friends and even our families.

What does God have to say about this? "Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day" (Proverbs 23:17, ESV).

Even though the wicked may be having the time of their lives, and enjoying their riches and sex and immorality and hedonism, we should not envy them. But we are tempted to. Why? Because our world is a gushing waterfall of the wicked ways of the world. This wickedness entices us, the unrepentant sinners beckon us to join them in their folly!

Judgment

As believers, we serve at the pleasure of God. But make no mistake about it, if we do not listen to God calling us to align with Him and His ways rather than our ways, judgment will come.

Do you think God loves us more than His people whom He destroyed Egypt for and called them out of slavery? He fed them, watered them, none of them died, and their clothes never wore out for 40 years! But what did God say to Moses?

"Don’t ever forget the Lord your God. Don’t ever follow other gods or worship and serve them. If you do that, I warn you today: You will surely be destroyed! The Lord is destroying other nations for you. But if you stop listening to the Lord your God, you will be destroyed just like them!" (Deuteronomy 8:19-20, ERV).

This is precisely what God did when the Israelites turned to worship the golden calves in the wilderness that Aaron had made. He destroyed the generation that wandered in the wilderness and it was their sons and daughters who entered the promised land.

God is shaking the earth today, dear readers. Will we continue to remain rebellious and stiff-necked, or will we, like the others be destroyed too?

We need to get on our knees and repent. We need to shun our worldly ways, worldly pleasures, and return to the Lord and do His will rather than ours. The fear of the Lord demands no compromise, no casual nod to who He is, and no capitulation to the ways of this world.

Who among you has ears to hear and is ready to join me in a robust fear of the Lord?