2 Chron 7:15-16: “Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” [NIV]
Hope. That is what this verse speaks to me. Hope. Yes, we live in troublesome times, in our nation, in our families, in our churches. If we believe what we hear constantly shouted at us through the media we would agree that there is no hope. Or that the only one who can offer us hope is someone we need to elect to a public office. They seek to nullify any hope from any other source.
But church, we have a hope that goes beyond politics, beyond our nation, beyond anything we can stir up in ourselves. God says that His eyes will be open, His ears will be attentive to our prayers. He reassures us that His eyes and His heart are with us. His presence indwelled Solomon’s temple; His presence now indwells us. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” [1 Cor 3:16 NIV]
We have a hope that cannot be diminished or destroyed. I never, as a preacher of the Gospel, want to diminish God’s power to turn things around in the blink of an eye. I never, as a preacher of the Gospel, want to dwell only on what is wrong. There is so much that is right! Grace, grace, grace flows from God’s throne. God wants us (even in the state we are in now). God loves us. He really, really, loves us. With all that going for us, how can we lose!
Father, I pour out my heart to you. I repent for myself and for my people. I want to seek You and You only. I want to be cured of my sin and arrogance. Bring hope, grace, power and love to your beloved! Amen.
