“And there is none that calleth upon Thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of Thee.” Isaiah 64:7
In the book of Haggai, we find where the Lord, “…stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God.” (1:14) When we look at the Lord’s words to His people, as recorded in Isaiah, we find declared a lamentable situation. The people of the Everlasting God had ceased to seek Him, to stir themselves up to seek Him for the faith and strength to not only take their stand upon truth of Who and What God is, but to rise up and overcome every obstacle put in their path for the coming of His kingdom and the doing of His will. In the case of the people who had been forced to stop work on the second temple, by their enemies, it would be by the preaching of two prophets whom the Lord had sent, that the governor, high priest, and all the remnant of the people would be stirred up BY GOD to seek Him for His intervention in the face of a circumstance that was stationary, unchanging. When we consider this matter of being stirred up to seek God, we discover that either it usually stems from a conscious need in the face of insurmountable difficulties and opposition. On the one hand, it deals with enemies without and within. In the case of Israel, she had a problem with uncleanness, which neutralized her in the face of her spiritual, and physical, enemies. It would only be in stirring herself up to seek God for His direct, and complete, intervention, that she could again know blessed communion with God, where sins had been forgiven, and she had been restored to Him. With regard to the enemies without, Isaiah’s prayer is so poignant, and clear: “Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at Thy presence. As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make Thy name known to Thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Thy presence.” (61:1-2) Here is a man who has stirred himself up to seek God, not only for personal need, but for the essential intervention of God with regard to the enemies of righteousness. This state of affairs has not changed from Isaiah’s day until now. The enemy within, self, and the enemy without, Satan, can only be consistently vanquished by the perfect Savior. Rightly did Isaiah write: “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” (59:19)
There is a concept in Christendom these days, which is the very antithesis of “stirring up oneself” to seek God, and finding Him. It is the idea that if we are passive, God will do His will with or without us, and that we need not seek Him earnestly. Those who adhere to such a position, demonstrate that they know little of the spiritual battle, and context, in which we are engaged. The moment a person is born of the Spirit, he or she is “delivered” from the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.” (Col. 1:13) That kingdom of God, His reign on earth in the hearts and lives of men, has always been contested and assailed by Satan, who is ever appealing to the sinful nature in the believer, to yield to him, rather than walk with God. God has given us the capacity to seek Christ, and to find Him. The believer will always be assailed by the enemy, accused, and resisted, while on this earth. It is by stirring oneself up to seek Christ earnestly by the Spirit, that the victorious life in Christ will be revealed and manifested to the world. We are called to overcome.
Dear Father, Give us grace to stir ourselves to seek and find Thee. In Jesus’ name, Amen.