Everyone is striving to discern the times. Yahweh has a clock, a calendar and appointed times that most people, even those who profess to be His children, ignore—choosing instead to move about on the world’s clock, the world’s calendar, and celebrate world’s appointed times. He assures us that as we walk in light, we will not be caught off guard. 

What season is it in His garden? What time is it on His clock? Ecclesiastes, written by the world’s wisest man, reminds us that for everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven. When we do things outside of His season, it doesn’t bear fruit. When we do things outside His appointed time, we experience chaos. 

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Yeshua tell us the wise are able to discern the season that they are in by observation—both spiritually and physically. We can tell summer is near when we start to see leaves on trees. We can tell judgment is near because we have let chaos reign rather than peace. His peace can be recognized in an instant. The enemy’s chaos, left unchecked, usually develops over time.

Whether or not it is Yahweh’s time for the final judgment remains to be seen. His prophecy, testimony, and commandments in His word provide light in this present darkness so we can see how close we are to going over the cliff and whether or not there is time to turn around and run safely back to Him. Wise people see the sword coming against the land and know what to do when they see it.

Who among you are wise? What kind of wisdom do you possess? There are wise men that belong to the world—diviners, magicians, sorcerers, and all those who make predictions based on observing signs that are not in fact His, or out of sync. There are also those with godly wisdom. Which are you? How can you tell? What conversation is God having with humans right now?

Godly wisdom is generated by the Fear of Yahweh. His healthy fear helps us to remain strong and courageous, standing upright in the face of adversity. His Holy Spirit provides us with the power to respect and revere Him and helps us love Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind, as we express love for Him in His preferred love language—obedience. (Matthew 19:17, John 14:15).

James 3 defines wisdom from above as pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. James further indicates that peacemakers who sow in peace will reap the fruit of righteousness.

Last week, my blog Welcome To a Brand New Thing encouraged all of us to settle down, then plant, and tend to, our physical and spiritual gardens. The world is experiencing a famine of both good spiritual and good physical fruit. Both famines are unnecessary and reversible. Yahweh explains in Deuteronomy 28 that when we operate in obedience to His ways that He will ensure provision in both realms. Yeshua encourages us to seek first the Kingdom of God, and embrace His ways, then what we eat, drink, and wear will be added to us – again, in both realms.

Our starvation, spiritually and physically, is optional. When we love Him according to His ways and love our neighbors as ourselves, everyone thrives. True justice and order are restored. Chaos is defeated. The English word for peace is actually translated from the Hebrew word shalom, which is much richer. Shalom isn’t just a greeting. Shalom is a tool of war that means to destroy the authority attached to chaos.

Do peacemakers synchronize in lockstep compromise with the world? Nope – that is what false peacemakers do. Kingdom-peacemaking-chaos-destroyers stand fully armed on the true foundation and Rock—allowing God to use the firmness of an obedient heart for His glory.

Lawlessness, whether spiritual or physical, has yielded a bumper crop of chaos in the world. Conversely, peacemakers seek to destroy the authority attached to chaos and overcome chaos by keeping the commandments of Yahweh and believing in the testimony of our Messiah—our Prince of Peace, or Sar Shalom. Note the Hebrew word sar means chief, ruler, captain, official and prince.

Do you see the army of unseen, self-crowned principalities operating on this earth right now invading every worldly system to propagate chaos as they visibly manifest through SARS (princes plural) Corona?

Would you like to destroy the authority attached to the chaos all around you and reap a harvest of righteous fruit?

Those who sow in His shalom yield a crop of righteous fruit of the Holy Spirit as defined by Paul in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. This bountiful crop is only cultivated by obedience to Him and He will provide more than enough for us to share with others.

We sow seeds of righteousness in this world by keeping God’s holy laws, trusting His testimony, agreeing with His precepts, and finding truth in His judgments. We sow seeds of righteousness by speaking the same life into people’s lives as declared by our Father, and testified to by our risen Savior, in the heavens daily. (Psalm 19)

By this, we lay up treasure where nothing can corrupt it. We are to desire it more than gold. The fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure. His circle of life remains complete, orderly, organized, at peace, and unbroken. We do not have access to it until we know before whom we stand and have a healthy fear, or respect, of Him. Isaiah 33:6 informs us that Yahweh will be the sure foundation for our times, a rich store of salvation, wisdom and knowledge.

On the other hand, the authority attached to chaos seeks to destroy everything—to corrupt, steal or outright kill. The principalities who operate under that authority as anarchists disregard God’s law, do not believe His entire testimony, disagree with His stated precepts, and say that His perfect judgments are not true.

We can join them by operating in pride that multiplies chaos or we can oppose them through the humble authority that always soundly defeats them. How will the clarity of 2020 change the way we pray, speak, tweet, blog, text, or type? Will we responsibly sow righteous words reflecting a peaceful, obedient heart in 2021 or speak unrighteous words emanating from unholy lips rooted in rebellious hearts?

We are being tested. It’s wise not to grumble or complain when we are.

Making chaos is pretty easy when we choose to make it, either in the spirit or the physical. A lack of self-control easily attaches us to the kingdom of those self-crowned principalities and places us in direct opposition to God. We can tell we’ve made that choice when we don’t care about God’s instructions, His timing, or His desires for our fellow humans. We can tell because we left the conversation. We can tell when our actions and words declare “I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.” That is the path of chaos and it never works out well for His children.

There is another way. Instead of chaos, we can choose to make peace. Yahweh is on the side of peace and those who make it. He proclaims an eternal covenant of peace in Isaiah 54 and crowned His Son with it. Those who choose to make peace, first with Yahweh and then with man, will be called sons of God. All of creation is groaning for them to be revealed even if they don’t realize it.

God won’t make any of us do anything we don’t want to do because He has a steadfast loyal love and wants us to choose to love Him back. He may help you make that choice by making the sky above you bronze where your prayers won’t get through or the earth beneath you iron. More is on the way if we continue to walk out the path we seem to be choosing as discussed in my blog Repentance Slays the Beast in case you want a sneak peak at what’s next if we don’t return to Him.

He disciplines us because He loves us. If we respond appropriately to discipline in repentance, He will restore whatever the locusts have stolen. Likewise, if we continue to choose to act without loyalty to Him, He will allow us to be a subject in another kingdom where chaos reigns, injustice prevails, and unrighteous fruit is a mainstay diet.

Yahweh wants all to come to repentance and live in peace with Him – even people with whom we vehemently disagree. We are active participants in either expanding or diminishing His Kingdom here on earth.

We can use weapons of this world if we want to lose. Right now, obedience to His ways is our best weapon—actively guarding His commandments in our own families and our own backyards before we garden in anyone else’s. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. If you believe the Holy Spirit can help you achieve other things here on earth, believe that He can also help you walk in obedience in a lawless world, as we pray that in His mercy the scales of justice will tip again for everyone’s sake. 1 John 5 advises us that by keeping His commandments we overcome the world and they are not burdensome to us because our Father does not burden His children with instructions and rules they cannot keep.

Obedience is never out of season and the time is right for God’s people to walk as Children of Light down holy paths with ordered steps propagating righteousness and justice in shalom to destroy the authority that has brought all this chaos.

Father, we thank You for Your true Light to Your paths of holiness. We are grateful for the mercy You have extended to us in the midst of this chaos with a time and a season to consider the choices we make in every word and deed. To the faithful, You show Yourself faithful. To the blameless, You show Yourself blameless. To the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd. You save an afflicted people, but humble those with haughty, prideful eyes. Yahweh, we know how much You hate a haughty look. Thank You for returning us to the beauty of humility.

In You alone we can charge an army. With Yahweh as our true Commander in Chief, we can scale a wall. Your ways are perfect. Help us walk in them. You arm us with strength. You make Your ways clear; as we follow them, You make our feet like those of a deer and station us upon the heights. You train our hands for battle, Help us to know what weapons to use. You help our arms bend a bow of bronze because Your right hand alone upholds us. You deliver us from our true enemies. You help us love people created in Your image though they have failed to maintain it. Deliver us in Your great mercy to life and help us to see Your goodness in the land of the living.

Intercessor, what do you think? Please share your response to this post in the comments section below!