11/3/2024 In a Dry and Weary Land
Psalm 63:1 says
“O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;
My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
I was driving home from church recently, crying out to God for His people, for His church.
Visiting a church, I looked around during the service. There were people all around. Tired faces. Slumped shoulders. Going through the motions of church but lacking the Spirit: an opening prayer, a responsive reading, a couple of songs from the hymnal, offering, prayer requests, another prayer, the message, people looking at their watches - it’s finally over. I could be describing just about any church.
My heart ached. These were good people. I knew several, not all, but I could tell that they were genuinely good. They were glad I was there; they invited me back.
In my vehicle driving home, I began weeping as I talked to my Dad, my Heavenly Father.
“Oh, God! Your people need You. I look at Your Church, the Bride of Christ, and I see weariness. I see people who are parched, thirsting for Your Spirit. Look at us, Father! Give us a drink of the Living Water! Revive us because it feels like Your Church is dying. We need a flood of Your Spirit over us! Your Bride doesn’t look like a bride ready to meet her Bridegroom. She looks like tinder, like she is about to blow away. Help us, God! Save us!”
I teach a Bible study class on Sunday afternoons. Our topic has been Waiting for God. The lesson this week was the story of Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist. Israel had been waiting for over 400 years for a word from the Lord. The Book of Malachi had ended with “5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6 He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”
And then, crickets. For 430 years!
I contemplated how that paralleled with the church today. It’s been over 2,000 years since Jesus was born, since He died and rose again. Yes, I know that the Holy Spirit was sent after Jesus ascended. Yes, I know that the church grew exponentially. Yes, I know that God is still able. Yes, I know that the Word tells us that Jesus is coming again. And yet, I see His Church, His Bride, looking worn and tired and broken. I see people in pews on Sunday, punching the “I’ve-fulfilled-my-weekly-church-duty” ticket. Going through the motions of church. Good people who, I’m sure at one point were EXCITED about their salvation, EXCITED about serving. What has happened to us, and are we really that much different than when Zacharias was administering his priestly duties in the temple? I’m sure there were people who were looking for the coming Messiah (remember Simeon?), but I’d be willing to bet that the majority had - I hate to say it - given up hope.
They had given up hope of seeing their coming King, their Messiah. At the very least, they didn’t expect to see Him come the way He did.
But then God sent Gabriel to Zacharias. He sent a promise to Zacharias who had prayed for a child but was now old. Zacharias who had given up hope.
Gabriel conveyed God’s message “13 …your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke, Chapter 1)
Did you see what just happened there? Four hundred thirty years prior, God ended His message to Malachi with “6 He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers…” and He began a NEW THING in Luke 1 with “17 It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children”.
God picked up right where He had left off. God injected HOPE back into Israel!
God still wants His people to have hope! We have the hope of Jesus’ return - and I think many would agree that it feels closer now than it ever has before. The atmosphere just feels different.
I don’t know how God is going to accomplish it, but you can be assured that a bride doesn’t look weary or troubled or depressed. A bride is radiant, beautiful, excited and glowing because she is getting ready to see her groom. Just like the promise of John the Baptist, God is going to do a mighty, mighty thing to prepare the Church to meet her Bridegroom!
I can’t wait to see what this is going to look like - it will be glorious!
In the meantime, I will continue to pray,
“O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;
My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
And, I will expect a flood of the Spirit!
Eyes on the Prize,
Kynda
