Dirt With A Conscience

The other morning I sat on the floor of the barn and prayed and wept and confessed the sins of the church and our culture and our nation, and I cried out for God to give us mercy, even though we are ignorant fools who don’t deserve it. And as I sat and prayed, I looked around at all the dirt. It was all over my legs and hands and feet as I sat in it and wept and prayed. As I looked at the dirt all over myself, it dawned on me, “I am dirt with a conscience.”

We are dirt with a conscience. That is the basic truth of humanity. We think we know, we think we understand. We think we can make wise choices and decisions and rule ourselves, but it is only a farcical illusion.

As I looked around at the dirt and chicken poop that surrounded me on the floor of my barn, I thought of Genesis 2:7, “Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.” I looked up to heaven with tear-streaked cheeks and said:
I sit in the dust and remember that I am dust
I am dirt with a conscience
Free will is too heavy a burden to bear for dust
Hold it for me, Lord
Take my will into Your hands and carry it
For it is too great a gift for such as we

That morning, as I sat at the Lord’s feet and confessed the truth of my humanity, the Spirit reminded me of a word He gave me that I published on this blog on 1/29/2019:

Cease striving and know that I am God
Let all the earth sit before Me in silence
Let all mankind contemplate their Creator

What words may be spoken that I haven’t given?
What thoughts may be had that I don’t already know?
What can man do that I cannot undo?
What is man, that I should fret at the work of his hands?

Foolish children
Sit in the dust and lament your own ignorance
Oh church, lament your futile service to a God you do not truly know
Oh nations, lament your futile rebellion against an all-consuming fire

In the end
You will either shout for joy or whimper in terror
When I come from My holy dwelling
All the earth will cease striving
And know that I am God

(Zechariah 2:13) Be silent before the LORD, all people, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.

(Psalm 46:6-11 ) The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; He raises His voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah. Come and see what the Lord has done, The desolations He has brought on the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire. He says “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah