A couple weeks ago on a beautiful sunny day, my wife and I went to a park overlooking one of Madison’s beautiful lakes. It was like a scene out of the children’s book “Busy Town.” There were wind surfers on the water; sail boats, motor boats, kayaks, canoes and people fishing from the shore. There were mama ducks with their babies swimming along the edge of the water and geese flying over.
We watched as a dad on the bank across from us gave his physically disabled daughter a fishing pole and managed to maneuver her wheelchair down the rocky slope to the edge of the water where she cast her line out. The whole experience was refreshing and delightful.
In contrast, last week we saw reports of rioting and looting taking place in some of our major cities. Locally, we were hearing rumors that the small towns in our area were their next target. This struck fear in the hearts of our friends and neighbors. We heard reports they were going to hit Lena, Warren and Stockton, Illinois. My wife and I decided to take a drive just before dusk to check it out. We got in our vehicle and drove from Gratiot to neighboring Warren, Illinois, then south to Stockton and east to Lena. We saw an obvious police presence along our route, revealing that the threat was real.
It was an eerie drive. The highways were almost completely void of other vehicles. Some of the businesses we passed in each of the towns had their main driveways blocked with vehicles parked two to three deep in an attempt to discourage entry. Back home, I slept that night with a loaded gun beside my bed. Thankfully, the next day there were no reports of looting in our area, but that does not diminish the ever-present threat to our security.
We as a nation, as a people, are in need of prayer. Those of us who are Christians must intercede on behalf of our nation, our towns, and our neighbors. That is what the Church is called to do. In the Scriptures we are instructed to pray for those in authority over us that we may lead peaceful and quiet lives, (1 Timothy 2:2). Please pray specifically for our leaders in Washington D.C. — our President and his Cabinet, and our Vice President and Secretary of State and Attorney General. Please pray for our states’ governors and our town mayors and our police officers in the places where we live. Pray about the social unrest and the political divide that is so great in our nation. God told the great king Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
I am praying that evil will be crushed. That the enemy’s schemes will be thwarted, that God will be moved to intercede on behalf of His people. I am praying for a revival in our churches, our communities and in our country. For people’s hearts to turn from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh and receive the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
Let us pray to our Almighty God in heaven, that He will heal this land in Jesus’ Name.
— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Kevin Cernek is senior pastor of Martintown Community Church.
