Has God Visited you? (Genesis 21-24

 Those who wait on the Lord discover the amazing. The Lord intervenes in His time according to His promises. He brings laughter in darkness. First, we must circumcise our hearts as Deuteronomy 10:15-16  “Yet on your fathers did the LORD set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day. So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.” NASU John Calvin wrote in his COMMENTARIES ON THE FIRST BOOK OF MOSES CALLED GENESIS this:

“...because there is nothing of greater importance, than to take the pure word of God for our rule, and not to be wise above what is lawful. This submissive spirit is especially required, in reference to sacraments;[As circumcision] lest men should either invent any thing for themselves, or should transfer those things which are commanded by the Lord, to any use they please.” (pg.416  Christian Classics Ethereal Library)

What we love should never get in the way of divine inheritance. We must put our most loved element on to alter of sacrifice. If what we love is of God, then it will prosper apart from us. There is no greater act of faith them a parent giving his child to God. My God sees in our lives and holds the power of life. The Lord has made us wanderers seeking for our eternal home as only death give a place for our mortal coils. A community morns for one who is loved. One must always buy one's own grave dor the sake of peace.

When the Lord blesses , even the pagans will stand in Aw of the Lord. The fear of Him will drive to them to make peace with the righteous. The Lord is the Water of Life to those who seek make a covenant with Him. All test are given to more then one person. Our divine inheritance must be a sacrifice even as the the Messiah is a sacrifice for the world. We walk by faith remembering He will not break His promises. The Holy One will only stay our hand when we know we are willing to sacrifice, then He may provide a sacrifice; even then there is loss.

It is not good for man to be alone. Those who seek the Lord must not seek a spouse among the pagans. One should seek one who seeks the Lord and the betterment of others.

Will We Return Before It’s Too Late? (Joel 1-2

 Has any generation witnessed a plague as devastating as what we have seen? COVID was not an accident—it was a warning, a judgment permitted by the sovereign hand of God. He is not absent from disaster. He brings it to awaken the hearts of the proud and shake the foundations of false security. Unless we repent, the West will fall. We cannot be saved by our knowledge, nor preserved by our pleasures. Our science, our entertainment, and our materialism cannot shield us from divine wrath. As the prophet Joel thundered in ancient Judah, so now his words echo for us.

Theologian John Calvin, reflecting on Joel, wrote, “Though no one should think of vineyards or of wine cellars or of cups, yet they shall be forced, willing or unwilling, to feel the judgment of God in their mouth and in their lips.” (Commentary on the Twelve Minor Prophets, Vol. 2, p. 16). God can strip us of every comfort until we taste judgment in the very place we once indulged ourselves.

Even nature seems to rise up against us. Droughts, floods, fires, and storms sweep across the earth as if creation itself groans under the weight of our rebellion. The idols we constructed—technology, wealth, celebrity, even self—are powerless before the Holy One. Our pleasures have betrayed us. Our joy has withered. The house of God is neglected, and sin has made us numb. Joy dries up as the land mourns.

But there is a way back. Repentance is not merely an option; it is a divine invitation. The prophet Joel called the people of his day to a sacred return: “Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly; gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.” (Joel 1:14 NASU). This is the urgent call of our moment as well. We must humble ourselves and come weeping before God.

There is a day coming—the Day of the Lord—a day of darkness, trembling, and reckoning. Satan will wage war against the people of God. Evil will swell to its fullest expression. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. But take heart: the Messiah will not be defeated. He will arise in victory, crush the enemy, and gather His people to Himself.

In view of this, let your repentance be real. Let it go beyond mere appearances. Joel pleaded, “Rend your heart and not your garments. Now return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and relenting of evil.” (Joel 2:13 NASU). There is hope. There is mercy. Who knows? Perhaps God will bless us again.

If we turn to Him, He can heal the land. It is God—not ourselves—who gives rain for the grain, wine for joy, and peace for our borders. The time will come when He will restore all things. The tribes of Israel will be gathered, and war shall cease. But the invitation begins now. Return to the Lord.

In the face of judgment, we are not left without hope. Joel's message is both a warning and a promise—divine justice is real, but so is divine mercy. The devastation we see around us is not the end; it is a summons to return. God is not distant or indifferent. He waits for hearts that will break before Him in humility and trust. The same God who allows plague and hardship is the One who restores, revives, and blesses. Now is the time to turn from our idols, to lift our eyes from the failing systems of man, and to seek the face of the Lord. If we return to Him with all our hearts, we will find that He was waiting for us all along—with compassion, with forgiveness, and with the power to renew not only our land, but our souls.

Is God Silent in the Face of Violence?

 “Violence!” The prophet’s cry echoes our own. We pray, but it seems heaven is silent. Aid does not come. Evil flourishes, and holiness is mocked. The righteous suffer while the wicked prosper. Why does God allow such injustice?

Rabbi David Altschuler, in his Metzudat David on Habakkuk 1:4, explains, “Because judgment is not executed speedily, the law becomes slack, and the righteous are ensnared. Justice is perverted when delayed.” This delay in justice stirs deep anguish within those who long for righteousness. John Calvin, in Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets (Vol. 4), shares a similar lament:

“There is indeed nothing which ought to cause us more grief than to see men raging with profane contempt for God… When therefore such a confusion appears to us, we must feel roused, if we have in us any spark of religion.”

And yet, even in this pain, we are drawn closer to the Holy One. The problem of evil is not just a philosophical question—it’s a mirror. In seeing the evil around us, we’re forced to confront the sin within us. Charles Spurgeon, in his sermon The Sight of Iniquity (1858), said,

“One of the surest ways in the world to put down all our self-sufficiency... is for God the Holy Spirit to show us our own depravity.”

Habakkuk’s message is unsettling: God will raise up an even more wicked nation to bring judgment. These conquerors are proud, lawless, and brutal—yet they are instruments in God's hand. Evil punishes evil. The oppressors become the oppressed. The prophet is horrified. “Why do You tolerate the treacherous?” he asks.

Still, the prophet waits. “I will stand at my watch,” Habakkuk says, longing to see how the Lord will respond. God is holy—His eyes are too pure to look on evil without response. And yet, in His patience, He delays judgment. But delay is not denial. The vision awaits an appointed time. “The just shall live by faith.”

Spurgeon, in his sermon Watching to See (1882), reminds us:

“We cannot teach others aright unless we are ourselves taught of God... His truest servants are those who continue waiting upon Him.”

God pronounces woes on the arrogant and violent. The unjust rich will fall. The bloodstained cities built on corruption will crumble. Nations forged through cruelty cannot stand. Idols—those false gods we create in our own image—will fail. Only the Lord remains enthroned over all the earth.

Conclusion
Habakkuk teaches us to wrestle with God honestly, to bring our anguish before Him, and to wait in faith. Evil may seem triumphant for a time, but its end is sure. God's justice may be delayed, but it is never denied. In the face of chaos, we are called not to despair, but to live by faith—trusting that the Judge of all the earth will do what is right. In a world of violence, let our cry be that of the prophet: “I will stand at my watch.” May we be those who see evil—and yet wait in hope. 

When you encounter evil—in the world, in your community, or within your own heart—do not grow numb or cynical. Like Habakkuk, bring your burden to God in honest prayer. Refuse to accept wickedness as normal. Stand at your watch. Seek God's heart. Live by faith, not by sight. Be alert to the ways He may use even unexpected means to correct, discipline, and redeem. And while you wait, be a voice for truth, a comfort to the afflicted, and a signpost pointing to the justice and mercy of the coming King. In doing so, your faith becomes more than belief—it becomes a prophetic witness in a darkened world.