Zephaniah 1

Zephaniah 1:12

"It will come about at that time
That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
And I will punish the men
Who are stagnant in spirit,
Who say in their hearts,
'The LORD will not do good or evil!'

It's funny, just this morning I was telling the class I teach that I was having trouble finding relevant passages in the Minor Prophets.  Then this comes up and smacks me this evening.  In a way, this could describe me.

In my view, God is much less...shall we say, supernaturally active, than most Christians think.  I tend not to think of God taking a direct hand in day-to-day affairs, and mostly letting events play out as they would naturally.  I feel He normally only interjects at very specific points to direct events when necessary, not to "muddle" in our everyday events or decisions.  I've never been able to nail down exactly where the "line" is between the two, but I always felt there is a rough one, at least.  I don't think God particularly cares what I eat for breakfast, or which shirt I wore to church this morning.  He probably doesn't even care which route I take to church.  But when I fell asleep behind the wheel and almost hit a road work crew, I can absolutely accept he may have intervened there.

But now I read this, and I wonder if that belief puts me in this category, where I believe in an inactive God and would've been punished at that time?  Where does my belief in a non-micromanaging God cross into one that doesn't do good?  I don't have an answer to that, and it bothers me a bit.

Habakkuk 3

Habakkuk 3:16

I heard and my inward parts trembled,
At the sound my lips quivered.
Decay enters my bones,
And in my place I tremble.
Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,
For the people to arise who will invade us.

How awful would it be, to know that doom is coming, but be unable to do anything to stop it?  I'd want to be shouting it from the rooftops, giving as much detail as I possibly can, in the hopes that someone would do what was needed to stop it.  Worst case, maybe some would at least heed the warning and get away while they could, before it was too late.

In some ways, I feel like this is what much of modern Christianity is up to, probably including me.  I'm not saying that should be the case, just that I think it is.  We spend much of our time in our own little circles, just waiting for the end to come, and hoping we're taken away before it comes crashing down while fearing how bad things are getting in the mean time.