Friday 7 September 2012

What Happens When We are Poor Stewards


Believers agree for the most part that things are winding down. Evil and wickedness are increasing, the love of many is growing cold. We are seeing what many call discipline, falling upon our world as well in the form of financial, political and natural upheavals. I want to proclaim God's mercy and grace in all of this for God abhors evil, especially from those under His favour and blessing. In North America, we have enjoyed blessing and influence unlike any other nation on earth, perhaps aside from Babylon or Egypt at their pinnacles, and yet we have been poor stewards in so many ways and are deserving of far more than we have to this day seen. God in His mercy, is giving us more time.

"We know all of this" you might say. Well there is a point. The pattern of judgements that we seem to be falling under are not new. 

In 1873, the American West was the focus of most of the interesting events. It was also a period when there was a relatively quiet war... against the aboriginals and the buffalo. Yes the buffalo. Without going into the finer details, the military and private citizens were hunting the native buffalo at an insane level. Millions were slaughtered partly in order to starve aboriginals out of the region. Skirmishes helped to finish off their way of life. Is it simple coincidence that a series of events followed which just about destroyed the settlers way of life in the region as well?

In 1873 the bank that had been financing the rapid expansion of the rail system, failed, which cascaded into a failure of the whole national banking system. Following that, yellow fever swept through the Mississippi valley and drought struck the plains. Swarms of locust descended on the region, sometimes massing so thickly that locomotives were forced to stop. 1 Million Americans became jobless and the country fell into a severe depression. 

This certainly sounds like the discipline of a holy God. One might argue that point but I hope you were struck by the parallels here. Today, people are still slaughtering aboriginals, and whites, and blacks and latinos and asians through abortion, violent crime and unholy wars. Poor stewardship of our environment and wildlife is on par with wiping out the buffalo. In short, many are exhibiting the same pride and carelessness that almost brought the US to its knees 140 years ago. It is only by God's mercy and grace are we still standing and only by turning to Him with a broken and contrite spirit over our sins can we hope to be spared the judgements yet to come. 

Don't wait for history to repeat itself. Cry out to God for His mercy to rain upon you, your family and your country before the panic of 1873 revisits 2012.

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