I Would Not Listen

Zechariah 7:13 “Since they refused to listen when I called to them, I would not listen when they called to me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

And so it is. So many wonder where I am. Why I am not saving your Nation. Why I am not immediately answering their prayers. And my question is: Why have you ignored me all these years? Why have you ignored my Word? Why have you ignored my commandments? Why have you decided to live as you wish, so often against my directives? Why when you obviously do not care to please me should I immediately please you? You self-centered, misled children. You cannot ignore me, my Spirit, my Word, my commands, my directives, my help as long as you are happy then do a complete about-face when you are suffering and expect me to be right there. I am where I have always been. I have not moved. I have not changed. It is you who have moved away from me. You who have changed into heathen. You who have decided to serve your enemy instead of me. Repent. Turn back to me for the right reasons – not just to alleviate your pain and suffering. Yes, I would not wish you to experience the pain and suffering. Yes, I would wish that you are walking unfettered. But, it is you who have chosen that path. It is you who have rejected me and run in the opposite direction. It is you who have taken the worship that is rightly mine and given it to your enemy. Do my children suffer at times? Of course, you live in a fallen world. But those who know me, who know my voice, who stay close to my side – those who truly trust in me – even while they may suffer temporally, they are at peace, they are comforted, they are able to withstand. They know that it is but for a time and that there awaits them an eternity absent pain, suffering, sadness, evil. Can you say that? Can you trust that in your life? Do you know me, really know me well enough, do you trust me, really trust me well enough, to know that any suffering you undergo here – especially if it is caused by your relationship with me – is just temporary? Do you know, as they do, that I will and do carry you through those times? That I am willing and able to strengthen and comfort you as you experience these trials? I am here child. I am waiting for you to return. But for the right reasons under it all. Return because you recognize and regret what you have done and who you have become. Return because you wish to be right with me. Not just because you do not like the circumstances of your life and want me – your personal magician – to take the bad away and give you a good life. That is not what matters. It is your soul – who you are and whom you choose to worship – that matter. Outside circumstances have nothing to do with all of that. Again, I have neither moved nor changed. I am eternally the same. Who have you become? Where do you now stand? How do I fit into that?