I Myself Am Going

“…and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty. I myself am going.” Zechariah 8:21

God was once again starting out with his people, his returned people, his beloved people whom he’d disciplined with the anger of Babylon. He was gathering them to himself again. God tenderly spoke through Zechariah about “boys and girls playing” and “the seed will grow well” and “the fasts will become joyful.” And the real reconciliation would come in their obedience to him. God said, “and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the Lord…’

From village to village, from city to city, people would entreat and seek the Lord. And when they sought him, they would find him. They would ask him before they acted. They would ask him if he wanted another church built, a new ministry begun, a new river crossed. Instead of running ahead of him, they would walk with him. They would ask, they would seek, and they would find. God is mysterious, but he isn’t hidden from those who diligently seek him.

Three women sat in stunned silence after a phone call had given them horrible news. A neighbor’s young son only thirteen years old had hung himself in his parents’ barn. These women huddled together crying and stammering prayers. “I don’t know what to do,” one said. Another added, “It’s so terrible. What could I possibly say?” The third one said quietly they must pray more. Then suddenly the third woman rose and began gathering things into a basket–a package of cookies, some paper plates, a bag of chips, just things she had on hand. “I don’t know what to say, but I’m going,” she said. “That mother has to know that we care. I’ll take her these things and–I’ll hug her.” She started out the door. The other two women looked at each other and then followed.

Entreat the Lord, ask for directions, then be bold enough to say, “I myself am going.” It could make the difference between life and death in relationships both earthly and heavenly.