“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV

There was a popular bumper sticker that Christians used for years which had a simple 3-word statement, “I Found God”, or “I found IT”. The intention I suppose was well-meaning, but the precision was atrocious. God is not an “It”, He is a person; nor did we “find” Him. He was never lost, we were. But I am sure to untold millions their conversion experience was understood through the filter of, “Look what I found”. The truth is, each one of us before we were “saved” were dead in our trespass and sins and blind to our need of Christ. We were incapable of finding much of anything spiritual from the Lord. It was the Lord who initiated this search through grace and graciously awakened us to our need of Him and in response, we said “Yes”. He sought us. He pursued us. His amazing, relentless mission staggers the imagination.

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So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

I Kings 17:12 NKJV

The greatest of miracles always take place in the most desperate of circumstances. Like most people, I love an amazing supernatural intervention of God in my life. I just hate the environment in which that mostly occurs. I love the inspiration of the ensuing testimony that I might post on social media or the new illustration I might use for a new message, but I am paralyzed by the thoughts of enduring the circumstances which need His assistance.

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“…And the government will be upon His shoulder…”

Isaiah 9:6

Government is God’s idea. In the simplest of terms, government at its root is the manner of ordering, administrating, organizing, or regulating a people, organization, or nation. God is a God of order. Government is not “evil”, as the anarchists and radical libertarians might want you to believe. Government as a form or structure can be compared to a gun which alone is morally neutral. What makes a gun (or government) good or evil is the one whose finger is on the trigger and what it is used for. You can have a biblical form of government, but if tyrants are calling the shots, it can still be used for great evil. You may have a secular form of government, but if the righteous are in charge, then blessing and wisdom can be established. Governments can be (and are) a frustrating thing, no doubt, but I think it’s important to be reminded again that government is God’s idea.

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“But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.”

Exodus 8:15

“But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.”

Exodus 8:32

“And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants.”

Exodus 9:34

Excruciating plagues can do one of two things to a person. It can either cause the person to repent and turn to God -or- it can exponentially harden one’s heart. The 10 plagues recorded in the Exodus account acknowledges just this truth. As the plagues were systematically released in Egypt, some in Pharaoh’s kingdom actually soften. However, the one and only one who can make the decision to release the Israelites from slavery is growing more hard-hearted by the minute. I am drawn to this reality today because I am asking myself the question (as well as considering the question on a national level), will this pandemic soften people towards the Lord -or- will they grow all the more hard-hearted?

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“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.”

I John 5:4 NKJV

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

Romans 8:11 NKJV

This is Resurrection Sunday. I cannot help but be drawn to the idea of victory. In fact, considering the environment of the first century church, the whole discussion of overcoming and triumph would seem at best futile and at worst a cruel hoax. The cruelty and brutality of the first century world was astonishing. If you have never read the classic, “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs”, then it should be required reading for every believer the initial year of their spiritual journey. It will not be easy reading as the stories are all too vivid concerning the sacrifice of those early disciples, yet their courage and sense of triumph in the midst of it is inspiring and important.

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