Lessons from the Haze

Lessons from the Haze

The haze spreads ominously across the whole nation, darkening the skies and obscuring the vision. Clean, fresh air becomes a rarity, and people are encouraged to stay indoors. Health problems surface where there was none before. The children cough and sneeze, the elderly labor in their breathing. Anger and resentment build up against our large yet poor neighbors, the mighty Indonesia. How do we respond as Christians?

When faced with any threat, personal or national, it is our calling, our responsibility, to pray. We need to start praying, in our homes, care groups and churches, that God will move on our behalf to free us quickly from the hazardous smoke which chokes us and our families.

At first sight, the haze seems to be physical problem, but anything happening in the natural realm must have a strong correlation with the spiritual realm. Perhaps, we can learn important Scriptural lessons even from the haze!

In Scripture, smoke has been used to describe hypocrisy and laziness.

(A) The Sins of Hypocrisy and Slothfulness

Isaiah 55:2-5
2 All day long I have held out my hands
       to an obstinate people,
       who walk in ways not good,
       pursuing their own imaginations-
 3 a people who continually provoke me
       to my very face,
       offering sacrifices in gardens
       and burning incense on altars of brick;
 4 who sit among the graves
       and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
       who eat the flesh of pigs,
       and whose pots hold broth of unclean meat;
 5 who say, 'Keep away; don't come near me,
       for I am too sacred for you!'
       Such people are smoke in my nostrils,
       a fire that keeps burning all day.

Proverbs 10:26

As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is a sluggard to those who send him.

Just as we are continuously irritated by the haze which fills our nostrils and smarts our eyes, perhaps we can gain a better understanding of how irritating our hypocrisy and laziness is to God. A time of haze is perhaps a call to repentance for us to examine our hearts and minds and ask for God’s forgiveness.

Are we hypocrites? Do we do what we do only as show to men? Though we call ourselves Believers, in our hearts, do we truly place Jesus Christ as Lord?

Are we lazy and reluctant to do God’s will or even our normal daily work? Do we follow God’s Word which says “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” Colossians 3:23.

Perhaps, the haze is a call for us to come back to God and seek a real, honest relationship with Him, and also to be humble and hardworking in all that we do.

(B) The Temporality of the Wicked

Besides that, the haze is also representative of the temporality of the Wicked!

Psalm 37:20

But the wicked will perish: The LORD's enemies will be like the beauty of the fields, they will vanish—vanish like smoke.

Hosea 13:2-3
 2 Now they sin more and more;
       they make idols for themselves from their silver,
       cleverly fashioned images,
       all of them the work of craftsmen.
       It is said of these people,
       "They offer human sacrifice
       and kiss the calf-idols."
 3 Therefore they will be like the morning mist,
       like the early dew that disappears,
       like chaff swirling from a threshing floor,
       like smoke escaping through a window.

Those who follow wicked ways may prosper today, and seem to enjoy in abundance the pleasures of the world! However, in just a short time, they will be no more, disappearing like smoke. However, the man who does God’s will lives forever!

In view of this, let us not give up hope in doing good and following God’s ways even though the unrighteous seem to be rewarded for their works. Compared to eternity, this life is so very short in comparison.

(C) The Wind of God

Psalm 68:2
As smoke is blown away by the wind, may you blow them away; as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God.

Finally, let us continue to ask God for His Mighty Wind to blow through our nation. May His Great wind not just blow the physical haze away but also blow away the smokes of hypocrisy, laziness, unbelief and wickedness in our lives, our homes, our churches, our nation.

God bless,

Jason