Day 67
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Nahum:
For the Book of Nahum I like what my Women's Bible says about it in summary:
"Nahum's message firmly asserts that we can stand in respect and reverence before God, knowing that evildoers will have their day of reckoning no matter how powerful or persuasive they may seem to be right now."
Right now where I am in "Life with Autism" that gives me such HOPEISM. There are so many evildoers. Pharma, Vaccine Corruption, the Media who fall for their propaganda.... Hospitals that are supposed to help instead kidnapping children from their parents. Agencies that cut services, insurance companies who don't cover much needed therapy for our children. It's just...overwhelming the amount of evil we must advocate against. It is unfathomable the evil of those who abuse our innocent children, youth, and adult with disabilities. But those words in this title, "Evil will not last forever...." give me such hope. God promises that evil will be destroyed, no matter how rich, how powerful, or how beautiful the enemy is. God promises that in Him, there is always reason for hope.
Nahum 1:3 says, "....the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished."
Nahum 1:7 says, "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him, but with an overwhelming flood he will make an end of Nineveh; he will pursue his foes into darkness."
It is overwhelming the power Pharma has over this Nation, it is unfathomable the lies and corruption within Vaccine Policy. I know it's not what I should be taking away from this book, but how God will right all these wrongs done to our children is what gives me hope each day...
A companion to this days reading had this summary that I love:
* God takes vengeance on bealf of his oppressed people; he will not let the wicked go unpunished.
* God is slow to anger, great in power.
* God is good and a refuge for his people.
* God cares for those who trust in him.
* God is mighty to save.
These verses...
Nahum 3:5 which says, "I am against you," declares the Lord Almighty. "I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame. I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle. All who see you will flee from you and say, 'Nineveh is in ruins --who will mourn for her?' Where can I find anyone to comfort you?"
Then this book ends with a really big standing ovation as far as I'm concerned, with regard to Pharma and Vaccine Corruption...
Nahum 3:19
"Nothing can heal your wound; your injury is fatal. Everyone who hears the news about you clap his hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?"
Oh, for the HOPEISM of that......
Habakkuk:
God isn't fair. That thought has crossed my mind a time or two or ten thousand over the last couple years..... All the sin around us, the violence, destruction, injustice in courts, and evil outnumbering good it seems. All the struggles and obstacles and unfairness in "Life with Autism," it's just not fair!
I guess I'm a lot like Habakkuk in that regard. I get so frustrated when it seems God isn't righting the wrongs fast enough. Or seemingly at all.
Habakkuk 1:2
How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
I guess the answer then is the same as now....
Not much longer....
Habakkuk 1:5
"Look at the nations and watch -- and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told."
I guess that's what keeps me somewhat sane and filled with HOPEISM. That one day when our faith meets God's faithfulness, when his plans and purposes for us come to fruition, we will be utterly amazed. God's neat like that. Not just amazed. Utterly amazed. It makes the not understanding the "why's" and "wait's" of now kinda worth it. Just knowing and trusting that my Sovereign God has a Sovereign plan to prosper me. My sons. My family.
I like how "The Message" states Habakkuk 1:13. I've caught myself saying a time or two or ten thousand, this very thing....asking God "are you serious?" after another seizure, another regression, another weight plummet, another all-nighter..........
But you can’t be serious!
You can’t condone evil!
So why don’t you do something about this?
Why are you silent now?
This outrage! Evil men swallow up the righteous
and you stand around and watch!
But, as I'm slowly learning the hard way, I must simply trust in God through those hard times. When God closes a door, he always opens a window. Though sometimes it's tough waiting! And God is always, always, always working in us and through us while we're waiting. If I know anything at all about hard times and waiting, it is that. God is there. I am not alone. There is purpose. I must trust in Him no matter what happens. God is powerful. More powerful than any injustice or challenge we face. In Habakkuk 2:18 it says, "Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak."
In Genesis 1:3 "The Message" it says this:
God spoke: "Light!" And light appeared.
How powerful is God that he merely speaks something and it is formed, created!
That sure silences my complaining, just the sheer realization of his power.
I need to trust in Him and wait for His timing.
Zephaniah:
The day of the Lord is near....
Very near for the autism community, as in today the new CDC prevalence rates of autism were announced as 1 in 68.
Zephaniah 1:15 says, "That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers."
Just as the Lord warned the people of that time of the coming destruction if they didn't change their ways, so too have we autism parents warned our government that the epidemic of autism will only get worse in time.
Some days are so discouraging when you are in the position you are in not because of your disobedience, but because of others greed. And like it says in Zephaniah 2:3, we must simply "Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord's anger."
We must remain obedient, remain steadfast, remain hopeful.
Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.
He promises in 3:19, "At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you; I will rescue the lame and gather those who have been scattered. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they were put to shame."
Hang on Brandon........
Hang on........
Haggai:
It's a lesson I always learn the hard way. God's presence is the key to restoration. Not doctors, not books, not anything else but God. God must come first.
This is a short book, short versus, but thought provoking ones.
Haggai 1:7 says, "Give careful thought to your ways." It goes on to say, "You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away." Why? declares the LORD Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house."
It's a lesson I am still learning. Building God's temple is the key to the restoration of God's presence. Then, and now. Putting God first is the key to restoration in everything in our lives. I know that, yet it is so easy to overlook. When God's house is in order in our heart and in our mind, then our house will be in order. God must come first.
And when we do that.......
Haggai 2:9 promises, "'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house. And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the Lord Almighty."
I can handle the present being more glorious than the past.
And more peaceful...
