My Habibi Lebanon –

Don’t lose hope.  That is all I ask.  Don’t lose hope.  Don’t look around you, don’t look within you, but look to Me, my love.  I am your first love.  Don’t you remember when I called you to be my chosen witnesses, so that you would know me and believe me and understand that I am who I say I am.  There is no other God before me, nor will there be one after me (Isaiah 43:10). 

Believe me when I tell you that you are to be like the cedar trees which your country is so famous for.  “The righteous will flourish like the palm tree and will grow like the cedar of Lebanon.  The cedars are known for their longevity and for its resistance to decay, which is why they have been so desirable to the nations around you.  Can’t you see this is how I’ve created you as a people? I’ve designed you for longevity and to be a blessing to those around you. I want to see you continue to grow; I want a flourishing nation, and people bearing fruit even in old age (Psalm 92:12).

Now today, I only see a few cedar trees left. I can see that you have been exploited for your beauty, and your success has actually become your failure.  Because you have lost sight of Me in the prosperity of your land.  Trust has been broken from neighbor to neighbor and replaced with hate.  Politics are no longer about the people, and you no longer see a hope for you or your children’s future. But I’m here to tell you don’t lose hope.  I am your hope, and I have plans to redeem and restore you; plans to give you a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

I have a plan to bring color to your streets. To wipe away the dullness and clean up the sharp edges of warfare, abuse and dead religion. I hear your cries, even when you are no longer crying.  I feel your pain, even when you don’t even notice your scars anymore. It upsets me that you have undergone generations of trauma. I am angry that many people have misrepresented my name for the sake of man-made religious responsibilities. 

I want to show you who I really am.  Will you allow me to come near and to shatter your old paradigms? Even some aspects of your culture and traditions that you hold onto so dearly.  I so deeply want to love you, and I know it’s hard to be loved when you’re only used to pain and disappointment.  I will restore you to health and heal your wounds (Jeremiah 30:17).

But apart from Me, you can do nothing.

I Am the vine, and you are the branches.

If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit.

 (John 15:5).

So here’s to a new generation of fruit.