David Pawsons Burden for New Zealand (5)

Twenty-three years after David Pawson visited, another David brought a similar message to New Zealand. David Wilkerson also carried a real burden from God when he spoke to Christian leaders in Auckland. The following is a summary of his message.

David Wilkerson had a strong sense that calamity will affect a big percentage of our population, even up to one million people. The collapse of our real estate boom will hit New Zealand like a whirlwind. If God has to touch every pocket book, he will do it because He loves this country.

The Lord knows what He is doing and everything is in His divine order. Many people are putting together money in the bank to see them through the storm they intuitively see ahead. They are putting their energy into a nest egg, rather than trusting in God, caring for the poor, the widows, etc.

He quoted Ezekiel 16:46-56 that lists the
following sins:

pride
fullness of bread
abundance of idleness
did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy
haughty

There is no greater sin than apathy, because apathy is a by-product of covetousness. We have bought into the idea that happiness only happens when we have nice things, a house, a job, etc. Apathy demands judgement before any other sin. He asked God to smite our apathy.

Long Delay
An interesting question is why David Pawson’s burden has been brought up again, after such a long delay. The reason for the delay is that God was giving his people time to get ready. If he had allowed an economic disaster to strike New Zealand at that time, many of his people would have been ruined.

Many Christians would have been swept away,
because they were not prepared.
If the economy had collapsed,
most people would have been shaken
and many would have fallen.
God needed his people standing together,
so they could minister
to those who were shaken.

Our complacency has held back God’s ability to shape our nation. This was dangerous, because while God withheld his hand to protect his wayward people, evil continued to increase. Evil has now been unrestrained for thirty years and has penetrated so deep into our culture that he cannot hold back any more.

Forgotten
New Zealand has forgotten God.
As a nation we once knew him;
not very well,
but we tried to serve him,
we tried to obey him,
we tried to worship him
and he blessed us.
But now New Zealand has abandoned God
most people have rejected his love,
many have forgotten who he is,
some of our leaders oppose him,
and others really hate him.
Given that we have forgotten God,
we should have lost our blessing
we should have lost it long ago.
But God is merciful
and has held back the judgement
He has held back the trouble and sorrow,
He has held back the pain,
and allowed his blessing to remain
although we have forgotten him.

But the season of patience has now come to an end. God must deal with evil, even though his people are not prepared. God wanted to reach New Zealand before hearts became too hard. If his people had been prepared, he could have turned the nation back with one quick shake (possibly in 1987). He offered the church a quick painless victory, but we refused to get ready, so the opportunity passed, a painful economic crisis inevitable.