Disturbed

To be disturbed can mean having an emotional or mental illness. That is not what is on my mind tonight. It can also mean to be worried and unhappy. The state of my disturbance falls more under the category of unhappy than anything else.

I made a mistake last night. I went to bed at 8:30 p.m. I kept drifting off to sleep in the living room and decided to call it a day. I should have known what would happen. I slept about the same number of hours I always do. Then....no sleep. Wide awake. Mulling over disturbing things in my mind. Namely the sins of our society. To name just a few; physical abuse, sexual abuse, racism, addictions, theft, murder, abortion, homosexuality, adultery, fornication, idolatry, hypocrisy school shooting and I need not go any further.

Each of these flowing freely in our society like sewage as wide as the mighty Mississippi River. The stench of sin can be found behind closed doors in gated communities as well as in the slums. The most highly educated are just as guilty as the backwoods hick with no formal education. Sin is rampant. It disturbs me tonight. I can't sleep. I cannot rest easy while the United States and other countries drift further and further away from holiness.

Another wife is battered. Another student is bullied and harassed. Another child is sexually abused by the very people who are supposed to love and protect them. Another preacher gives into lust forsaking the Savior he pledged to follow. Another man and woman commit adultery shattering the lives of many left behind. Another drunk driver takes a life in his or her drunken stupor behind the wheel. Another scandal breaks into headline news among politicians.

ALL OF IT DISTURBS ME. I AM NOT COMFORTABLE. I AM NOT ASLEEP ON MY WATCH ON THE WALL.

What possible difference can I make against this tsunami tide of iniquity? The easy thing would be to accept that it's just a sign of the times. It is just the way things are. I think many Christians think this way. They are no longer disturbed. Callused. Hard hearted. Insensitive. Unconcerned. Christian people who go through life in a daze with their eyes closed to the things around them.

WAKE UP. LIVE LIFE WITH YOUR EYES WIDE OPEN. God did not plant us in these times to take up space, to attend our religious gatherings but, never impacting the world we live in. We now live in a post Christian era because generations of other church going people did the same thing. We have legislated into laws things that violates the laws of God and called it the rule of the land. We build our cathedrals and church campuses but do we ever make a dent in the moral climate of our communities. We followers of Jesus talk a lot. We talk to God very little and therefore keep losing the battle for this generation.

I am disturbed. I can't sleep soundly. People perish. On my watch. Funeral homes stay busy. What about the condition of the souls of the deceased?  Did they hear the gospel of Jesus? Did they repent of sins and turn to Him for salvation? Did they ignore it all only to find now the consequences of unbelief? They perish like blind sheep stepping off a cliff into the eternal abyss of hell. Does this not disturb you? Ever?

What difference can I make? What difference can you make? For starters we can ask people about where they will spend eternity. We can care about the condition of people's souls. I just did this with one of my neighbors. He is the only neighbor I have been concerned about his salvation. I have talked to him about it before. Just the other day he came by my house to talk. The disturbance welled up in my heart again for him. Gary is 77. He loves to play golf. He is a good neighbor but I could not let the opportunity pass without finding out for sure about his personal relationship with Jesus. So I just asked. I didn't ease into it. I just asked. What joy to find out he has trusted Jesus as his Savior.

You can do the same with your neighbors. The same with your family. Over the years I've talked to my brother, sister, cousins, and other extended family about Jesus. I have talked to friends over the years about their salvation. Is that enough? No.

We must pray. Personally. Corporately. When was the last real prayer meeting you attended? When was the last time you really engaged in heartfelt prayer for our nation? Prayer meetings are nearly extinct. So are revivals consequently. The sewage of sin flows as freely as ever while the highway of holiness is sparsely traveled. Prayer closets remain uninhabited while dens of iniquity are frequented.

I may not be able to do much. There are a few things I can do. I can pray. I can intercede. I can stand in the gap. "I have set watchmen on your walls O Jerusalem, they shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent. And give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise on the earth." [Is 62:6-7] We in the church have held our peace. We have remained silent in our prayers. We have given God plenty of rest. We certainly do not cry out day and night. I am guilty. I have taken my watch at times. I have also neglected my post. THIS DISTURBS ME! I repent right now.

I can pray. I can lead whatever flock I serve to pray. I can witness on a personal level. I can keep preaching and calling people to repentance and salvation. I can keep writing what God puts on my heart. I can live disturbed. I trust God to keep breaking my heart with the things that break His heart. I can do those things. In the end it may not make much difference but it is doing something. By God's help I am not just going to turn over in my bed on this disturbing night and drift back to sleep in a spiritual slumber because I no longer care. GOD HELP ME TO CARE.

Father, 

I ask You to disturb Your church. I ask You to wake us up. I ask You to shake us out of our apathy. I ask You to break our hearts and let us see what You see and feel what You feel. I ask You to call Your church back on the walls to give prayer watch over our nation. I ask You to burden our hearts for lost people all around us. I ask You to disturb us as You are disturbed even if it means a loss of sleep. May Your disturbance in us motivate us to do something. To pray. To witness. To testify. To care. In Jesus name, amen.