Standing In The Gap

The last few weeks have been really tough.  They really have not been terribly tough on what is going on with me personally, but it seems like recently those that are around me are suffering from a myriad of personal crises', some of which are deserving of the personal foul flag for piling on.  Because I care about the people in my life, I am invested into their lives and care about what happens to them.  The biggest frustrations seems to be not being able to do very much about things.  I want to help but I can't in the way that I would like to.


There was a phrase that I learned a long time ago, both by just hearing about it, and by practical application.  The term was 'standing in the gap'.  What I have always understood the term to mean was that an individual would be able to help another through doing things for the person that they may not be able to do for themselves, or taking part of the heat for them to lessen their burdens, or another way was to spiritually breach a gap for them. 


The idea of standing in the gap comes generally from Ezekiel 22:30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.  The previous verse shows that the condition of Israel had gone downhill and the people were acting wickedly.  The idea of seeking one to stand in the gap was to say that one could plead for the people to God.  Someone to stand as an intermediary and plead for mercy from God on behalf of the people.  This same idea can be brought to an individual level as well where some righteous person would plead to god on behalf of others.  I guess some would call this intercessory prayer.


One example of this might be when Abraham was pleading with God over Sodom and Gomorrah, knowing that Lot and his family were there.  Abraham pleaded to spare the place for the righteous folks sake.  Unfortunately for the city, Lot and his immediate family did not add up to enough.  But this was a case where Abraham kind of stood in the gap for Lot and family, as well as any other righteous folks that may have been there.


Sometimes standing in the gap for another may put yourself on the line.  Jesus tells us that no greater love does a man have than to lay down his life for his friends.  Sometimes, we have to put ourselves out there to protect friends, family, fellow believers.  It could require literally jumping into the middle of a fight, or placing yourself in harms way to protect another.  Again we can look to Abraham and Lot for this also when Lot was captured and Abraham got his band together to go take out Lots captors and rescue Lot.


There are times too when standing in the gap can be purely spiritual.  You pray and pray hard for lost loved ones and friends, asking God to intervene in their lives and open their eyes to accept Jesus Christ.  Daniel 10:11-13 gives us some insight into this.  We see how when Daniel prayed, the prayer was immediately heard and responded to, but it took 21 days for the angels to fight their way past the demons to accomplish the prayer.  This happens when we pray too, especially when we are praying for the lost.  We are in a war.


Doing these battles takes its own toll on those of us standing in the gap.  We get tired, depressed, weak, etc, during these times.  The Holy Spirit that resides in us as believers desires to help us through this.  He will give us strength, wisdom, understanding, and can do some simple things like making sure our needs our met during these times.  I kings 19 tells the story of how Elijah was ministered to after doing some of the Lords work.  Elijah was so depressed he wished to die, and God had an angel bring him some food to eat to help strengthen him and bring him back into balance.


We as Christians are involved in some deep struggles whether we know it or not.  We will often be asked to or feel the need to stand in the gap for others individually or as a group.   It is what we do.  Sharing the gospel and ministering is hard work and may require much of us mentally, physically, and spiritually.  We can trust that God will see us through if we are acting under His authority. 


Isaiah 26:4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

Oh My People

Oh my People
Where are my people?

Down I came
From up on high
And took a walk
To find out this thing.
I walked to and fro
Hither and yonder
Visited here and there

Oh My People
Where are my people?

I stopped at a building
That bore my name.
I sat quietly in the back pew
Just watching
They spoke
They sung
They prayed
Not a one greeted me.
Several I visited
All the same
I slipped out
And no one noticed.

Oh my people
Where are my people?

I went to a mall
And stood on the balcony watching
People running to and fro
Concerned about mateial possessions
Not a one gave a
To another passing soul
Scampering about
Bags in hand
Chasing after things
That matter not
I walked away
And no one noticed

Oh my people
Where are my people?

I went downtown
And walked amongst the towers
So Cold
Business suits bustling
Chasing mammon
Deadlines to meet
Deals to be
Each looking past
Their fellow man
Sirens blaring
Horns beeping
I walked away
And no one noticed

Oh my people
Where are my people?

I sat down
In the city park
I must have looked
Down and lonely
A grizzled old man
Pushing a shopping cart
Stopped and gave me greeting
And sat down with me
We talked of life
We talked of death
He shared with me
His only food
I walked away
And he blessed me

Oh my people
There are my people.

I walked along 
The city street
Near dusk by
And getting cold
A man walked up
And greeted me
He asked me how I was
And if I needed help
I walked with him
Nearly two miles
I was fed
Given a bed
And an offer for some clothes
In the morn I walked away
And was blessed

                                             Oh my people
                                        There are my people

Poverty and Politics

I wanted to take a minute to examine this picture I have seen going around.  This is nothing against the person who posted it or of those for who this may be true.  It is an examination of how this argument is often used.

Something like this is often brought up in response to a conservative talking about reforming the program or cutting the budget.  The intent is often to paint anyone who is for reform of the program as mean spirited cruel bigoted individuals who want people to starve and making grandma choose between having electricity or eating dog food. This statement is just as bigoted as it claims the other side is.

This argument is also used to stamp down and mute out the truth about the massive fraud and abuse that IS in the program. Because someone points out that truth is not them calling every individual on food stamps names or stereotyping them.  It is people who wish to truly help the people who need help and don’t like that help being abused by those who do not need it.  We are not going to be able to help anybody if we keep going further into debt, in part, because the conditions are made to force people onto a program and then secondly that the program is not policed to prevent the fraud and abuse from occurring. 

Maybe it is not popular to stand up to this sort of message, but it is the truth.  What we need to do is set the conditions for people to get off of food stamps by having jobs.  By more people having jobs, we will have a larger tax base to help those who are still in need.  We need to balance the budget and pay off the debt.  If we keep borrowing we will go bankrupt and won’t be able to help anybody.   We need to stop giving away money we don’t have to people who don’t like us and use that to help our own.  We need to begin teaching biblical morality to our children so that people will be a little more responsible as adults and there won’t be such a high crime rate that keeps jobs away from the cities and poorer areas.

Those things are not bigoted statements or stereotyping.  They are reality.  Until people began grasping those realities and implementing them, we will go bankrupt and everyone will be stealing from their neighbor just to survive.  Instead we stereotype those people as being bigoted and accuse them of stereotyping the poor.  There is not much time left before this house of cards falls down and there will not be any assistance or opportunity for success for anyone.