Guest Week: Paige Basham

 “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”- Psalms 27:13

I woke up today with this scripture on my mind and was encouraged. It is easy for us, as a sanctified people, to become distressed at the rampant sin that surrounds us. And there is good to this, of course. I pray God keeps us intolerant to and disgusted by sin. I pray He fosters that righteous anger, and more so that righteous sorrow, so that we can share this gospel with those ensnared by sin and know how to pray for them more earnestly. But, at the same time, we are not to be disheartened.  We must have the faith that God is still working good amidst all the sin and all its destruction.

The Lord’s hand is not shortened in the changing of cultures. His ear has not become heavy with the onset of technology. The mountains, the rivers, the plains, the forests; they all declare His glory. They all stand holy, despite it all.  From the vast seas that hold a mirror to the sky, to the human soul and that may hold a mirror to Christ. It is only humanity’s sin that blemishes God’s divine creation: the rebellion of people who are ultimately ashes and dust. Because, at the end of the day, if we were all to disappear right now, even the tallest skyscrapers we’ve built to ourselves of our own pride and greed, would be reclaimed by nature.  And still, God sent His son to live and die to cleanse and sanctify his people. Why would He have made so great a sacrifice if he couldn’t ensure there’d be a remnant who’d accept it? Although it’s easy to feel alone in this walk, through prayer and ministering we find, like Elijah, that there are people everywhere who are serving Christ, even where we cannot see. And yet, even if there wasn’t, God’s will is still sovereign.  He moved upon the wicked nation of Babylon to execute his judgement against the people of Israel. And when their time had come to return to their land, he used a pagan king, Cyrus of Persia, to bring them home and rebuild the temple.

All throughout history, you can see His hand moving. And all around us, He is still working. We have nothing if we can’t trust in his goodness and power. There is nothing new under the sun, and thus nothing He hasn’t handled before. It only takes a little faith on our part to believe, to see it.