Monday, March 17, 2008

Spiritual Novacaine

At twilight on the eve of Passover God’s people were instructed to mark their doors with blood. God said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” It was a foreshadowing of the mercy that was to come for all those “under” the covering of the blood of the Jesus.

Ezekiel 9 tells of another marking that God instructed. It’s a story of a city under siege, yet the people refuse to turn to God their only source of salvation. Angelic guards were called forward and with them came another angel carrying a writing kit. This heavenly scribe is told to search throughout the people and mark only those that grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done. The guards followed him with destruction, and only those with the mark were passed over. How’s that for a picture of a guardian angel?

Why did God deal so harshly with His people? In His own words, “The land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.’”

I believe a marking is taking place in our nation even now. Dare we go on in ignorance and say, “Surely the Lord does not see what’s going on”? I don’t believe that God is looking for those who are wringing their hands or simply shaking their heads in dismay. He’s looking for someone to connect with His heart and share in His desire for the nation–plans for good, plans for hope, plans for a future.

Who will groan with the Lord?

What effect does it have on you when you hear that 50 million innocent human beings have been killed? Joseph Stalin pointed out, “One death is a tragedy. One million is a statistic.” Do the sheer numbers fail to impact us with any reality?

How about this–the CDC just released a study showing that one in four teenage girls have an STD. That’s 3 million girls in America. Among African-American girls, the rate is 50 percent. How does that make you feel? Do you feel anything?

We do not perceive the pain of these numbers because we have anesthetized ourselves with spiritual Novacaine. The nerve endings of our spirit man are numb, so the tragedy continues without our awareness like some kind of moral root canal.

“Oh, that we would feel again Lord.” Somewhere along the way we were told that emotions are bad. I understand where this came from, but the danger comes when we cease to feel anything. We need to know how God feels. Not for an ecstatic experience, but so we can become like Him and join in His heart. If we attempt to engage God merely on an intellectual level, then abortion will never be more than an empty statistic; the girls walking into the abortion clinic in your neighborhood will be nothing more than a mélange of faces that all look the same.

We serve an emotional God. Don’t forget that you have relationship with Him because He first LOVED you. And He’s JEALOUS for you. I believe right now God is looking for spiritual moms and dads that will stretch themselves out over a generation and cry for life…for as long as it takes.

19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” 22 The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.” (1 Ki 17:19-24 NIV)

Is it any wonder that the Spirit of Elijah is marked by turning the hearts of fathers to children instead of fiery Mt. Carmel showdowns (Mal 4:5-6)?

Would you get privately before the Lord and ask Him to soften your heart all over again? Don’t be in a hurry either. Tell Him that you want to feel again. Ask Him to share his emotions with you. Ask him how He feels about this young generation. Extend your heart beyond your own home and begin to think about those in the high school down the street. What about the entire city? Allow Him to take you into His heart and share in the burden for an entire generation.

Tags: Abortion, Anesthesia, Elijah, Joseph Stalin, Life, Passover