A Nation Divided

A Nation Divided

Today we have an opportunity to exercise our right to vote for who will lead our nation. I have seen so many people posting the first from 2 Chronicles 7 - 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

I want to remind everyone, that every democrat and every republican represents a person capable of making choices for the good or bad of our country. As with every election, there has been a lot of name calling and finger pointing. Even the verse above seems to be used to sway votes one way or another.

I have my choice for a presidential candidate, but regardless of who wins today, it is the person behind every democrat or republican that has put this country in its current state. That verse doesn’t say if the president will seek His face, it says for God’s people to seek His face. Friends, you can’t seek His face and live as if you have no Lord at the same time. You see, God sent His Son to be the Saviour of this world, but He also sent Him to be the Lord of this world. The verse says we are to humble ourselves, which means put God and others first. It says to pray and seek God’s face – which means we have to turn FROM the world- from the areas that we know God is not Lord in our lives. Think back over the past weeks, and if Jesus would have returned during any of those  moments, would you have stood excited to see HIm? Or would you be embarrassed because you got caught being worldly. If He came back during the shows you watched, would you rush to grab the remote and turn off the show?

So many of us will read that verse and don’t immediately think that we have wicked ways to turn from, but honey, we all have wicked ways because we are sinners.

This nation is not in the condition it is in because of presidents. This nation is in the condition it is in because of the American people making choices to live without God as the center. I know in my own house things are tolerated now that would not have been tolerated in my mom’s house back when I was little. Those regulating the shows we watch allow things that never would have been allowed 50 years ago. Words come through those speakers that we would only have heard in r rated movies at the theater, and because we have become tolerant, we don’t even care. Our favorite shows that we brag about being soooooo good – are not good. They are far from good. There are scenes in those movies that promote all kinds of immoral behavior, and we don’t bat an eye. We support the show through watching it, which sends the message to the FCC or whatever other regulating body that we are fine with those shows. We are fine with every sin that we glance over because we won’t be impacted by it.

Sister – if you are feeding garbage into your heart and mind through shows or books or whatever manner, your are affecting your heart and mind. You can’t unsee wicked. You can’t unsee the nudity or sexual immorality that we watch. You can’t unhear the cursing or the slander that are spoken. We hear distateful jokes and we laugh. We share the bad. We post rants and think it doesn’t impact others. We tear down people and think we are not wicked. We are the wicked that 2 Chronicles speaks of.  Us. We have tolerated wicked ways for so long we don’t even recognize them in our lives. And until WE turn from OUR wicked ways, God will not heal our land.

You want to make a difference? Stand against things that are ungodly. Stand up for Godly rules and regulations. Stop supporting the evil that we see in our homes through the television or computer monitor. Stop the sexual immorality. Stop the drunkenness and idolatry and the love of money. Stop the pride and start putting other people before your own wants. Stop trying to get everything new and better and be content in what you have, and then give the money you save to God.

You want to make a difference? Turn from your wicked ways and seek God’s face in all you do. You can’t have it both ways.  You can’t put your kids above God. You can teach them to put God first. You can’t make church optional if you are seeking His face. You can’t face God and the world at the same time. It doesn’t work that way.  All those little decisions that we make because that is what we want - it is self serving, it is idolatry (yes we can even worship our kids), it is wicked. We just don’t like to put the word wicked with our day to day choices. 

See the verse isn’t for “them”. It is for “us”. It says for God’s people (the Christians) to humble themselves (us yield our wants and put God and other above them), pray (have a relationship with God), seek God’s face and turn from THEIR (us Christians – our) wicked ways, and He (God) will hear from heaven, and forgive their sins (the ones we repented and turned from), and THEN He will heal our land.

It doesn’t say “pray and vote for a particular candidate”. It says to repent from your sins and have a relationship with God that includes prayer – and stop doing those sins, and then He will heal our land.

God doesn’t expect non-Christians to act like Christians and yield to Him, He does expect His people to act like Christians and yield to Him.

Stop expecting nonChristians to act like Christians. Love them and share God’s word with them. Show them through your lifestyle that God is Lord, and show them what that looks like. Show them how God has done wondrous things in your life. Share the Gospel. But don’t expect them to change if you haven’t taken the time to share God’s word. 

I feel like Americans have been wandering in the desert for years, building idols and worshipping a lifestyle without God, and we want the promised land.

Are you willing to do the rest of the verse? We can surely pray for our nation today. We can surely pray that our nation turns back to God. The thing is, for our nation to turn back to God, the American people must turn back to God.