Intimacy

November 18, 2009- I get really frustrated when I hear men and women of God blame catastrophe on God's vengeance. I have heard repeatedly that the disaster on 9/11 and hurricane Katrina were both acts of God done towards rebellious, Godless places, and that was God's way of turning those places back to Himself. Let me be the first to say that I don't know God's sovereign strategy, nor do I know the reason for these disasters, but what I see when I study the scriptures is that if we are in a place of intimacy with God, as we should be, then God would give us a word. He would show us when disaster is about to happen, and allow us, THE CHURCH, to intercede, and make a difference. Let me show you what I'm talking about. Abraham had the kind of intimate relationship with God that I am talking about. When God spoke, he knew who he was talking to, and he acted on God's word. In Genesis 18, God was so disgusted with the things going on in Sodom and Gomorrah, that He was about to destroy them. But in verse 17 God says, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do..."? He then told Abraham what was about to happen. Abraham then pleaded with the Lord on the behalf of his family that lived in the area, and God spared Lot and his family. Here is my point. We can never say what God will or will not do. He is God! But if we have the same intimate relationship with Him that Abraham had, then we can believe that, just like Abraham, God will show us the things that we can make a difference in, and give us the opportunity to do so. So the next time you hear someone proclaim God's strategy, ask them, "why didn't God use you to make a difference"?