destructive forces
In Psalm 55, David writes: “Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets (v.11).” Indeed, this is true of all cities in the world; in the same way that they gather people together to live, they also attract the focused attack of the enemy. Every city has its own spiritual strongholds, dark places and sinful habits.
However, God does not call us to abandon cities; instead we see a model in Scripture of dwelling in them, incarnating Jesus in them, and working for their salvation. We see this in the same Psalm, as David focuses on his own ability to call out to God in distress and ask God for his solution: “I call to God and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress and he hears my voice (v.16-17).” Men and women of God are to call out to God on their own behalf, and on behalf of the city (notice that David is distressed at what he has just described in verse 11 – the state of the city distresses him). What do you think happens when we cry out to God like this?
He leads us to fulfill his mission in that city; he guides us towards His solutions and strategies for saving the people in that city and bringing both justice & mercy. (The name of God YHWH literally means justice (YH) and mercy (WH)).
Yesterday, we saw this play out as we walked prayerfully through the heart of the dump, then through a construction zone and finally to the edge of Lake Managua. The construction zone is a project of the Spanish government (the Queen visited 4-5 years ago and her heart was so moved by La Chureca that she pledged 500 million towards a project to help the people there). They are constructing on top of the dump (a place we stood upon and prayed last year) a very large recycling plant and a community of homes. Their plan is to employ and house all the families of La Chureca. They will move them into their own home for free and give them work in the recycling plant. This is not a bad plan; it’s humanitarian and will do much good. But it remains to be seen if this is God’s plan.
Lake Managua comes up against the dump (look at picture here from same place last week) 
and on the opposite side of the dump is an untouched paradise. This resembles what God wants for the people of La Chureca; it’s pretty close to perfection and it’s original design. What the Spanish are doing is certainly not that.
This is a parable for our own lives. When faced with destruction we either run (see above – not supposed to do that) or we try to fix it. Only the Lord has a strategy to fix and redeem people, land and cities. Our roles is to come before Him, call out to Him in our distress, and wait for His plans.
