Oh, that you would
rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before
you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and
causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and
cause the nations to quake before you!
Isaiah
64:1-2
For thousands of years, this has been the cry of those who
believe in an all-powerful God, as they look at the violence, injustice and
evil in the world. I suspect every
generation has had people who thought things could get no worse. We are no exception. As we see world rulers who seem out of
control, groups who exercise violence against others who disagree with them,
and individuals who seem to delight in their own wicked character, we want to
scream, “God! Come down and put an end
to this!”
So….why doesn’t He?
I don’t profess to know.
But, if he had swept down from heaven and made everything right a
millenia or a century ago, you and I would probably not have been born. I do not have the mind of God. I cannot understand how all the events of history
fit together with the lives of individuals to accomplish his purposes. However, I believe he has a plan and a
purpose for each of our lives. We see
only the small segment of time in which we are caught. We may study the past, and guess at the future,
but it is only a guess. We do not see
the whole panorama, the whole pattern woven into the fabric of time and
eternity.
So, we are left in the middle of what appears to us to be
chaos, unable to see the plan, and we cry out…
Oh that you
would rip the heavens apart,
Tear them as
one rips a curtain open,
Burst
through with such awesome power,
That every
knee bows.
Roar like a
lion. Blaze like a fire.
Heat the pot
of human events to boiling.
Cause praise
to your name to come from every mouth.
I keep believing
that someday this will actually happen, and
the crooked will be made straight. (Isaiah 40:4) He came as a lamb two
thousand years ago. Someday he will come
as a lion, and no one will stand before his roar. No one.