Zechariah 10: 1
A verse I feel an automatic urge to memorise and keep close. What an important truth for us to take hold of in life. I often advise people to memorise these gems of truth which can be found all over the Bible. They are the verses and chapters that are bold truth without restriction of time, circumstance or theology. There are no two ways to interpret. The Lord makes the storm cloud, so ask HIM for the rain.
Zechariah’s words go on to explain some of the other options that people choose; idols and diviners. Why go for second best? I recently had a conversation with someone about praying to “The Saint”, something that I believe has no Biblical foundation. I asked the question; why would you choose to pray to anything less than God himself? How privileged we are to converse with God Almighty. We can ask the creator of the storm cloud to bring us rain, not his skivvies.
I read on to verse three and again feel that fear of the Lord. I am reminded of the responsibility of my spiritual position as a youth worker. Gods anger burns against those who are leading his people astray, not against the people. To those who are given much, much will be expected. Though I know the closeness of God as the love of a father, I am discovering more of what it means to truly fear the Lord. Not in the way that a child is scared and in fear of danger, but more of a reverence, an understanding of who God is. The world spins at his command, I have life at his command and at his command I could cease to exist. I surely do not envy those who cause God to say:
Zechariah 10: 3
The rest of Zechariah 10 is God’s promise to rebuild the house of Judah. He names the places he will bring them back from and what he will do to restore his people. Though God is mighty and all powerful, he is also compassionate and his heart aches for his children.
Zechariah 10: 6
This is a great promise. Not only will God restore them, but he will make it as though he had never rejected them. Only God has the ability to truly fix what is past. This is compassion beyond comprehension. The reason why they are calling out to God now, is because of the consequences of their own actions. They went to the diviners and idols, NOT the creator. And yet despite this being their own undoing, God will still restore them.
I find it very hard to explain this combination of love, compassion and fear. I know it all exists within my relationship with God, but my logic says that it is not possible. How can these feelings all work in one relationship? They do though. It is a divine combination which makes it the most amazing relationship any human could wish for.
DetailsJo Borley
December 21st, 2006
2 Responses to “Zechariah 10”
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January 10th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Hi Jo, I’m a friend of Rich and Rach’s in Luton. Thanks for what you’ve written - I don’t think I’ve ever noticed those verses before. As I read verse 6 I am overcome by the thought of what God can do, what his love and compassion make possible for humanity, for us. How good he is.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Hi Laura, I must confess that I hadn’t notice these verses until it came to writing the post. I’ve found that writing for threedays has been such a great opportunity. I so often read my Bible and think I have taken it all in, but it’s not until I have to write my thoughts for others to read that I actually do stop, think and let the verses really impact me. God never fails to reveal himself when we give him the time.