My sins have been bound into a yoke, by his hands they were woven together.  They have come upon my neck and the Lord has sapped my strength.  He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand.  Lamentations 1:14

When does it become necessary for the Lord to hand me over to those I cannot withstand?  Why would the Lord find it necessary to sap my strength and bind my sins into a yoke about my neck?  Why does the Lord look at sins as individual strands to be bound together into a tool of weighty control of my actions?  The message of Israel’s past in the Old Testament should be closely studied and understood by every Christian.

Israel has a special covenant with God, that both honors and blesses that nation but requires that they adhere and fulfill their part of that agreement.  Throughout Israel’s supernatural past they have repeatedly turned their back on that obligation through agreement and have subsequently forced the Lord to discipline them by utilizing their enemies to force them back to righteousness and promise.   Their story is chronicled in the Bible so that all shall see the price of disobedience to God, especially where vows and covenants closely define His expectations.  We as Christians should never believe that making those same mistakes will somehow bring us to prosperity.  In fact we should wonder ourselves if we would face the same discipline as children whom God loves.

The Lord has done what he planned; he has fulfilled his word, which he decreed long ago.  He has overthrown you without pity, he has let the enemy gloat over you, he has exalted the horn of your foes.  Lamentations 2:17

We have allowed our “would be emperor” to proclaim globally that we are not a Christian nation.  We supported his egregious behavior by voting him back into office and then subsequently complaining about the behaviors we have condoned by election.  We have remained quiet, however critical, on the sidelines because we secretly wished the liberal embrace of personal freedom would authorize our own idol pursuits.  We have turned our hearts, minds and strength to personal gods of money, prestige, power, luxury and comfort and we wonder why our enemies are gaining strength and threatening our “once impeachable gates”.  Our fortunes ebb, our government treats us as subjects instead of equals and our liberties have slowly been given to feed the consuming power of the nation state.  It is all traceable to our negligent treatment of Biblical history and the consequences of violating God’s new covenant with Christians.  We are those who call ourselves by His name, as it is written in 2Chronicles 7:14.  We are responsible for humbling ourselves, turning from our sin and crying out to God for healing and reinstatement to blessing, yet we wait for others to fulfill this duty reserved for Christians alone.

What then will become of us; slavery to pagan nations, in servitude to the immorality and greed for which we sold our birthright or perhaps scattered to other nations for our gross disobedience to God?  I see that our inaction has now become disagreeable and Christians are beginning to speak out against the usurpation of government and the ills of unholy lifestyles, but will we do what is truly necessary to fight such evil?  The only method to rid ourselves of the effects of God’s discipline for our national sin is to personally repent and turn our faces back to God in faith, prayer and action.  No outcry against the actions of those who are not committed to God will lessen God’s reaction to our disobedience.  We alone are responsible as Kings, priest, ambassadors and intercessory prayer warriors.

Holy Father forgive me for my sins against You.  Allow me to come back to a position of stability, blessing and grace.  Have mercy on this nation for our violations, turn us from our national sins.  Heal this land by healing the hearts of its people by leading them to grace.  Christ Jesus, you died for all.  It is for all that I pray.  Let the healing begin with me this day.  In Your glorious name I pray, Christ Jesus the King.