If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV).
It’s worth reading again…
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
I want to focus on the last three words: heal their land. Could it be OUR land? And regardless of culture, color or creed, I think we all believe America needs healing. I do not want to open the box of what needs to be healed; nor do I wish to assign blame, because as varied as our perspectives, beliefs, opinions and truths are—relative or not—I seriously doubt that we could come to any kind of agreement.
So, what do I have to offer? Well, allow me to blame the people of God—the Church. In the above verse, the LORD says He will hear, forgive and heal. He will hear from heaven; He will forgive our sins; and He will heal our land. But what do we need to do; or more specifically, what does the Church need to do?
Well, for God to hear, forgive and heal, we need to humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. Is that all?!
We can see God hearing, forgiving and healing—that’s Who He is, that’s what He does. But does being humble, praying, seeking, and turning, is that us? Let’s look at the definitions of those four verbs that should define us and our actions.
Humble: There are three perspectives to this verb:
God does the humbling.
Israel’s enemies are defeated; and
We humble ourselves.
It is the latter which is described here.
There are a bunch of words in Hebrew translated as some form of humble and some are rather intense: afflicted, silenced, poor, weak, needy, lowest, abased and oppressed. You can see being humbled by God may not be a pleasant experience. Most of these Hebrew words are relational, binding you with the Mosh High God.
Whether you choose to humble yourself or be humbled—it’s your choice. What do you think He wants for you? A great example of the sort of humility we need to embrace can be found in John 13:3-17. One more thought. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up (James 4:10).
Pray: As you might expect, this Hebrew word is most often translated as some form of pray. But there are other translations to intercede, interpose and make supplication. Note that all are “other” oriented. Interceding for others, interposing for others, making supplication for others, praying for others. Praying for our land. There is one interesting definition which would seem to fit our times: meddle. There may be some who believe we religious types are meddling. And maybe we are, but prayer comes back to our relationship with God. Who or what we’re praying for may change, but we’re always talking to our Heavenly Father.
Seek: The word seek is not only an action, but an attitude as well. As far as the action is concerned, the translations of the word are to search, inquire, investigate and look. Words that focus in on the attitude of seek are begging, concerned and desire. If you’re seeking the LORD, it needs to be from the heart.
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13 ESV).
Turn: The principle behind the word turn is to repent, and its definitions are to turn back and to return. I don’t want you to miss that, to turn back and to return. Your turning is not just a turn. It’s a turn to something, or in this case it is a turn to someone, a turning back to God. Now you see God’s attitude towards you. He wants you to be in relationship with Him. After all, His One and Only Son died for you.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). Despite the fact that we have turned away and gone astray, still He laid the iniquities of us all onto His Son on the Cross.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are (1 John 3:1)! This great love should compel us to be a people of humility, who pray to the LORD, who seek His face and to turn from our wicked ways and turn back unto Him.
I suppose before we seek healing for our land, we need to understand we ourselves need healing. Are you willing to be healed? To be humble, to pray, to seek His face and to turn from your wicked ways to God? Only then will we be heard, and only then will God heal our land. It won’t be the government or a political party or movement.
If the Church gets to a place where God hears us, forgives us and heals our land, we will have a massive miracle on our hands. Then it will be up to us to explain it to those who don’t want to hear; and ensure that no one gets the credit—or the glory—other than the LORD God.
It’s my fault, it’s your fault. What are you waiting for?
2 Chronicles 7:14.
