When will all this be over? Are you ready to get your joy back? Are you ready to have something to celebrate instead of heaviness because of what we see all around us? The word of the Lord for 2020 released back in October 2019 was “Prayer Perimeter.” Set a prayer perimeter around your life. There was no thought of COVID then, nonetheless God warned us and gave us advanced notice of what was coming. The question is – why COVID? Also, we know people are praying, interceding, crying out to God. Is there anything else we can or should do to posture ourselves before God that we might see a personal, and national deliverance from this pestilence?
Psalm 92:6 promises the people of God that they shall not be afraid of the pestilence that walks in darkness or the destruction that wastes at noonday. That tells us that for a Christian nation, it is a contradiction to go through such things. Why then are these things happening? Psalm 96:12 gives us a certain level of insight:
Psalms 96:12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice.
Notice what this verse says. The trees of the wood (a euphemism for the people of God – see Psalm 1) – the trees of the wood will rejoice when? When the land is joyful. Can the land mourn or be joyful? That would imply that land, an inanimate thing (allegedly), is capable of measuring its environment and responding in a conscious way. Is this possible? Remember, in Mark 11:11, Jesus had a conversation with a fig tree, and it responded to his words. That tells us that inanimate things, even geographical features such as a landmass – respond to God and respond to man. Look at the following verse:
[Lev 18:28 KJV] 28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that [were] before you.
This verse describes what happens when God’s laws are violated. The very land you live in will become hostile to you. On the other hand, when our ways please the Lord (Psalm 96:12), the field rejoices, and the people (trees) celebrate. Why COVID? In 2 Kings 17:26-27, the servants of the king of Assyria had been expatriated to northern Israel, but they had all kinds of trouble with hornets and failed crops. They sent word to the king complaining that they didn’t know the “god of the land,” For that reason, the land itself rose up against them. The king’s answer was to send a Levite slave from Assyria to Samaria to acquaint them with that god of the land (Jehovah), and then circumstances improved.
What is the point? The United States declares itself ONE NATION UNDER GOD. That is a blessing in obedience, not so much in disobedience. Prayers can be offered up, but without corresponding repentance and godly behaviors, this becomes problematic. Prayers are not as effective when obstinance against God’s law, and God’s spirit is ongoing. What is God’s heart toward us? See Psalm 96:12. His heart is that the land rejoices and gives His people a reason for celebration. Is that His highest ethic barring none other? No. God is a God of Holiness, and He is changeless (immutable). When people collectively turn against Him Psalm, 9:17 tells us what happens next:
[Psa 9:17 KJV] 17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, [and] all the nations that forget God.
The current situation is not hell, but it is hellish. The word forget in this verse means “oblivious.” How much dust is gathering on Bibles throughout this nation? How many patches on are the knees of pants in this nation from hours spent in prayer? Not so much. What can you do as one solitary individual to be a part of the solution and not part of the problem? Pray. Immerse yourself in His word. Hold forth the light of God (not political solutions) to a crooked and perverse nation. Rick Joyner has said politics cannot save us. He suggests that a military intervention might be the answer, but no revival ever happened at the point of a gun. Zech. 4:6 tells us not by might, nor by power but by My Spirit says the Lord. The actionable part of that truth for us is to correct things, personal and intimate things about our lives that grieve His spirit, and if you think there is nothing in your life that grieves him, then that is your starting place, oh, hypocrite. From the ground of piety, repentance, humility, and transparency, you place yourself in a position to come under the regard of God and reap His mercy.
Things are the way they are because of what we are doing. If we want something different, we must do something different. Not the other guy. Us. You, me, us, we. Then the land under OUR feet will rejoice, and we – as the trees of God will be joyful! Who’s with me?
