Unrecognizable

6.25.2010

Joel 2:17 Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ESV

The question is rhetorical; but the truth was they had so forsaken the Lord that they were unrecognizable as the people of the Lord; their lives were in such disarray that one would never know that they ever knew the Lord.

Why read the Bible if one isn’t going to adhere to what it teaches? Why go to church and lift up praises to God if there really isn’t an accompanying life-transforming relationship with Him? Why should anyone ever say of believers, ‘Where is their God?’

The battle I face everyday is the battle of standing my ground for Jesus Christ in what seems to be peace and calm. I am not faced with open persecution – at least that I can see – nor torture nor sword nor prison; my life is mostly quiet. But the battle I face is holding onto my faith in the midst of peace; in the midst of affluence; in the midst of calm. I fight the battle of boredom. But even in the midst of that, does my light so shine before men that they see my good works and glorify my Father who is in heaven? (Matt. 5.16) Or am I simply viewed as just another good guy in a sea of good people who live good lives, work their jobs, eat their food, and pay their taxes? Where is their God?

In these days of relative quiet, as our freedoms are slowly and steadily evaporating by a mindset that government is god, the question is, “Where is their God?” What sets the children of God apart from the children of the government? What sets me apart – or am I unrecognizable from everyone else?

Father in Heaven,

You’ve called me to worship You in secret so that Your life in me may be visible in public. Help me God to fight the fight and to hold my ground that I may not become unrecognizable as Your servant in a world that seems to have found a suitable substitute deity to meet their needs. Strengthen me I pray in Jesus’ Name, amen.