In a conversation about the mess in our world,
particularly in North America, I said that when a nation turns its back on God,
it always falls apart. The person I was talking to looked at me as if I had two
heads.
History confirms this idea, and the Bible verifies it. Proverbs
14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any
people.” This is from the ESV. The New Living Translation is even clearer: “Godliness
makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”
How has God been abandoned? Some examples: Prayer is
forbidden in schools and many public gatherings. Where allowed, it is watered
down so that praying “in the name of Jesus” is not allowed. Bible reading is
frowned upon in many places and Scripture cannot be quoted. When guidance is
needed, many people turn to all sorts of ‘experts’ and some consult their daily
horoscope, but not God.
This is not new. In the OT, God’s people even did it. The
prophet wrote:
And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness. (Isaiah 8:19–22)
When trouble came, they spoke against God as if He were
their enemy. They looked to the earth, to other resources, but their troubles
increased.
The Bible has many examples, but rather than point to more
of them, I am thinking about the one resource God has given me and how much it
has blessed and changed my life. His Word is my ‘how to’ or Manufacturer’s manual,
given to me by my Creator so I know how to live enjoying His blessings. Yes,
there are trials, but in those trials, I know His love and care. Walking as He
wants me to walk produces great joy rather than distress, darkness, and the
gloom of anguish.
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14–17)
I began reading the Bible each day when I was about
thirteen. My mother did it, and I thought that was the right thing to do. While
it took years before Jesus came into my life and I better understood what I was
reading, I’m aware of His hand on my life all those years, and certainly ever
since.
I’m also blessed and amazed at the way God blesses those
who suffer because their trust is in Him. Consider the people in Texas who are
saying that the Lord has taken care of them. They have lost all their
possessions, but not their ability and desire to praise God. Compare them to
those who have turned their backs on God, those who raise their fists in anger,
those who even loot the homes of people who have already lost everything. They
mock the mercy of God to their peril.
Magnify these contrasting attitudes in an entire nation. Think
of the countries who say NO to God and yes to the so-called freedom of being
without religion. How far they fall! Even as they wallow in lawlessness and
poverty, they refuse to honor Him. On the other hand, those who seek His face
are persecuted by the state and even by their own family members as if they are
the scum of the earth. People who oppose the Lord seldom realize that God is
not the cause of their misery; rejecting God is destroying them.
Following Jesus means being taught God’s ways, and corrected
when in error. He trains His people in righteousness, and makes us complete and
enabled to do good. Abandoning the Lord means going the way of sin, refusing
correction, welcoming unrighteousness, yet feeling incomplete and unhappy, and without
the ability to know the difference between good and evil. Apply that to a whole
nation and no wonder God says, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a
reproach to any people.”
^^^^^^^^
Jesus, I am praying
for many parts of the world that have lost any vision of You that they once
had, and for those in darkness. Give them light from You, and from those who know
and trust You. I don’t need to be an historian to realize that You exalt those
who exalt You. Those who insist on going their own way are reaping the results
as they wallow in sin and the consequences of sin. What can I say? How can I pray?
Much of our world is in trouble. Help me understand and pray in Your will for
individuals and for entire nations.
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