Desperation

Joel 1:14 "Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord."

I saw this verse as I read yesterday and I thought that I would be spending time in it today. The thing is, I didn't see this yesterday and in fact I have never seen it. What is similar between these two verses? "the elders and…all the inhabitants of the land". This applies to everyone. The responsibility to teach your children well applied to everyone; those in leadership and those who were just your ordinary Joe. And this: Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly…into the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord."

Things were not getting bad in Israel, things were bad in Israel. There was natural destruction from locusts eating everything green. Not only that but there was outside destruction. A strong, huge nation rose against Israel, invaded it and wasted and ruined it. Economic security was gone. National security was gone. Joy was gone. This didn't just happen overnight. It was something that occurred over some time. There were warnings on the horizon that they ignored…and now they were paying the price.

Sound familiar? We could apply this to our nation. We could apply it to our churches. We could apply it to our families. There are usually warnings. There is usually a sense that something is coming and we need to get ready for it. The problem is, we ignore those warnings and keep doing the same thing that we have been doing. That has to stop. Something needs to be done. And what is it?

Consecrate a fast. Call a sacred assembly. Get everyone there. The elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of God. For once in your life, show your dependence and cry out to the Lord. These were desperate times for the nation of Israel and it is my sense that we are also coming upon desperate times in this country. It is my sense that there also are desperate churches and it is my sense that there also are desperate families. We need to do this. We need to get everyone together and fast and pray and cry out.

The problem? We really aren't there yet. People are not desperate. How do I know? Look at the times when we call for people to come together to pray. How many show up? Frankly, things are going to have to get a lot worse in our nation, churches and families. When they do, maybe then we will fast and pray. Until then, look out.