When I look around at the conflict and chaos in our nation, the problem is evident. I see the issues with crystal clarity, while others do not. If only they would humble their misguided hearts to see things my way, everything would be better.
Do these words sound arrogant? That is because they are. And anyone who speaks this way would be immediately identified as not just a part, but also a cause of the problem.
Ironically, most of us think that we see this world’s issues with clarity. But in a world where everyone else is wrong, how can we expect anything to go right?
The result of this mindset is that we are all right. I don’t mean that all of us are actually right, but that we all think that we are all convinced of our own rightness. And by default, anyone who disagrees with me is wrong.
But if God’s thinking aligns exactly with your thinking, you are either transforming the world, or you have deluded yourself by creating a god in your own image.
If we truly want to move forward on this morass of conflict and confusion, we need a different approach. It must be one in which we humble ourselves before God to acknowledge that meaningful change must begin with us.
No matter how superior we believe that we our reasoning might be, the Bible tells a different story. If only we gave serious consideration to these and other passages:
Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:6-9 (NASB)There is a way which seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12 (NASB)
Every person’s natural way of seeing life strays so far from God’s. It’s no wonder that we see so much chaos around us.
What do we do when we are right, and everyone is wrong? We humble ourselves and cry out for mercy because something is desperately amiss in our own hearts.
If there is to be meaningful change and truly forward progress, it must begin with us as individuals as we fall on our faces and ask the Lord to transform our hearts and minds.
On Monday, July 6, 2020, I will be joining with leaders from the Indiana, PA Pastors’ Network (IPN) as we humble our hearts before the Lord with a day of fasting and prayer. I’ll be posting a week of devotional readings leading up to that day, which can be used in preparation for fasting or during the fast itself.
Participating churches in our community will be opening their doors for prayer, with each church deciding whether to have organized prayer, or simply provide space for people to draw near to the Lord. If you live in Indiana, please consider joining us on that day. And if you don’t live here, there is nothing to stop you from participating wherever you are.
For the sake of our children and grandchildren, indeed, for the very future of our nation, we need social transformation. But truly favorable changes will never take place as long as I am right and everyone else is wrong.
