~The COB Annual Conference, while a wonderful uplifting experience of gathering with Brethren from all over, also revolves around lots of decisions about polity issues. One pastor up on stage stated so eloquently, all those who oppose change, please put it in the offering plate. ;o) Funny play on words, but why do we all resist change so? Lord, I pray that You help me to really change... and become more the Christian that You want me to be.
God Changes Us
Micah 1:1-3:12 (New book!)
"Yes, people of Jacob, I will bring all of you together; I will bring together all those left alive in Israel. I will put them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will be filled with many people." (Micah 2:12)
This is a great scripture, another promise of God to rescue His people... here meshed in all the harsh words about how they are so disobedient. This scripture reminds me of the passage in John that I recently read with my Bible Study group about the gate and the sheep and the shepherd (John 10). I wonder if it has some of the same symbolism, if it is a foreshadowing of sorts. At any rate, it's beautiful... "I will bring all of you together." It reminds me of the song, "Come Together." Just imagine how we as individuals, as communities, as believers, as a world would change... if we would come together. As the lovely hymn goes, I pray,
"Bind us together, Lord. Bind us together,
With chords that cannot be broken.
Bind us together, Lord. Bind us together.
Bind us together with love.
There is only one God.
There is only one King.
There is only one Body,
That is why we sing."
We Change Our Communities
Psalm 144:9-15
"Let our sons in their youth grow like plants. Let our daughters be like the decorated stones in the Temple. Let our barns be filled with crops of all kinds. Let our sheep in the fields have thousands and tens of thousands of lambs. Let our cattle be strong. Let no one break in. Let there be no war, no screams in our streets. Happy are those who are like this; happy are the people whose God is the Lord." (Psalm 144:12-15)
There are two levels of change that I identify in this scripture: first the change in the community itself and secondly the change in attitude- toward contentment. I am currently reading the book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. (I highly recommend it! I picked it up yesterday afternoon and have already read 100 pages!) The truth is, we have a responsibility to our 'sons' and 'daughters' to care for them and help them to grow, the same way we have to care for our land and animals and homes... and peace.
While the Psalmist is arguably praying about these things, to me it doesn't give the impression that he is standing idly by. It reminds me of the expression I've heard several times but most recently from Lise's father: "Pray as if everything depended on God, and live as if everything depended on you." In other words, with God's help... let's "be the change we want to see in the world."
We Change Our Hearts
Revelation 9:1-21
"The other people who were not killed by these terrible disasters still did not change their hearts and turn away from what they had made with their own hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood- things that cannot see or hear or walk. These people did not change their hearts and turn away from murder or evil magic, from their sexual sins or stealing." (Revelation 9:20-21)
Sometimes I can almost hear God shaking His head and saying, "Ah... will they ever learn?" As an English 101 teacher this past semester, I can sympathize. Just because you review over and over what a thesis statement is doesn't that will show up on the essays. Just because we see over and over again that a war isn't working doesn't mean governments will start looking for alternatives. Just because these people see others killed by these disasters- these crazy fire, smoke, and sulfur-breathing horses doesn't mean they will change their hearts. Yikes! I don't know, I kind of hope that would do it for me.
When I sing "Change my Heart, O God," I pray for just this. Alone it is so hard to change... I need God's life-altering power. Right now I suppose the area I need to change is control. I like to fool myself into thinking that I'm in control of things (not everything, but a lot of things). Sometimes this can be beneficial, because it empowers me to try to make a difference in whatever way that I can. But sometimes it's downright frustrating- I end up shouldering a lot of responsibility unnecessarily, carrying the weight of the world and believing that I should've been there. I need to continually remind myself that I don't have the power to always be there, but God does. God has all the control and the power to change people and communities and hearts.
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