"I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of America.
and to the republic, for which it stands...One Nation, Under GOD,
Indivisible...with Liberty and Justice for all."~ Francis Bellamy, 1892
We teach every child these words: but do we live by them?
In America, it seems that we no longer desire to Stand as One nation...under God.
Over the past 50 years, we have made a conscious decision to slowly turn away from God. We forcibly and systematically have fought to push God out of school, government, courts, politics, etc., in the name of 'Separation of Church and State.' We have even considered no longer calling America a 'Christian Nation,' recommended removing 'In God we Trust' from dollar bills, and contemplated forming alliances with those who worship other gods..in the name of 'peace' (and oil/money). If we look throughout biblical history, we must know that embracing these behaviors eventually result in the destruction of the people who do it...Yet we still look for His blessings on this Nation!
I do find it interesting, though, that when tragedies occur, we are surprised, and look to God as if He has abandoned/forsaken us. For example, after September 11th Trade Center Attacks, you couldn't FIND a seat in the church, and people who had never prayed before were rushing to thier knees. I also noticed that there were people who cursed God as thier loved ones perished, questioning Him, and asking him 'Where were you when ---- died? All those innocent people who had to suffer. Where was GOD through this tragedy?"
Before it happened, however, they not only did not acknowledge He existed, but also fought to do things against His very Will. It is hypocritical. On one hand, we attempt to kick God out of this country, and toss away our morals and values for what we feel is 'right' and our own personal 'Freedoms'...and when things blow up in our faces, literally....we run towards churches, prayer vigils and confession booths. It's not a question of 'where is God?' God was never lost. But when we attempt to push Him away, ignore His will, and live in a constant state of rebellion towards His word, when we are saying 'I dont need you, I want to run my own life", He (being the gentleman that he is) does not force Himself upon us.
Instead, He steps aside and lets us be god over our own life....and deal with the consequences that eventually result.
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. ~Proverbs 14:12
In this country, there seems to be a new motto, "If it feels right, then its right to you...if it isn't hurting anyone else, just do it." But how are we so sure that it isn't hurting anyone else?
Who says it isn't hurting God when we sin? In our own eyes, when we do what we think is right, we tend to judge and look at our motives and INTENTIONS more than our actions. But interestingly enough, we judge the ACTIONS of others rather than thier intentions. We don't even worry about how our actions affect God. As Chrisitians, If there is something that WE want to do that goes against what we claim to believe, we simply justify it by making a claim that it's 'scriptural', or that it is no longer 'relevant' because it was in the 'Old Testament.' This causes confusion, division, and sedition within the church itself. Just because WE accept certain things that were once clearly wrong, doesnt mean that they are now RIGHT. God's view about it hasn't changed with our 'sophisticated' culture.On the LIVE Teen Bible Study last night, Jordan did a study on "Right vs. Righteousness'. What I loved was that he showed that there are things that we THINK are right; things are right according to the WORLD, and then there are things that are actually right according to GOD...many times these things are opposite of eachother. But, when we accept God into our lives as the Head, we are called to change (renew) our mindset from former ways of thinking that were self-absorbed and self-seeking. We are called to come into one mind with Christ.
But in America, we love to seek self-fulfillment, self gratification, and pleasures... no matter the cost.
Many times I hear people saying that God doesnt speak to them, and that they dont hear his voice like prophets of old used to. I disagree. I think that God indeed talks to us the same as He did back then, but with the distraction of TV, Internet, loud music, hustle of daily life, cellphones, and quarrels, we are unable to even hear His voice. And when we do hear a voice telling us not to do certain things, we ignore it, and argue against it, dismissing it as 'unreal'.
God's voice is not loud and roaring and 'thunder-like', as we imagine from movies we've watched. It is a quiet, small voice that we can only hear when we are still and listening for it.
It's often that still, small voice that says "This isn't a good idea,' or 'don't do this" or 'Go there instead of here.' adn 'Warning; This situation is dangerous.' and at most times, we push it away, pretend we didnt hear it, don't understand it, or attempt to justify it away. We fight so hard to continue to do our 'will' and the things that we think to be right, we only focus on the loud voices that come from music and media telling us that 'we only have one life to live, and to do what makes you happy.' Those voices feel better to our 'flesh nature.' We follow, subscribe to those other voices, and neglect prayer time, bible reading and meditation that allows you to 'tune in' to God's peaceful voice, and allow the distractions of life to get in the way of hearing what He has been telling us all along. Then we wonder why we cant hear God's voice, or feel his presence in our daily lives. And when tragedy occurs, we wonder loudly, 'Why God, did you LET this happen?"
But didn't we stop trusting Him first?
God is not forcing his will on America. If we chose to remove ourselves from under His Guidance and protection, then he will allow us to do so. If we choose to allow, condone and promote sin into country and culture as acceptable, and mock and remove His words from our schools and monuments, He wont fight it. If we want to continue to elect leaders who don't represent him, and allow them to lead and guide our country to economic and ecological destruction, he will allow it. We still have Free Will.
But when major tragedy occurs, let's not get angry at God, question His existence, and lash out at religious leaders because we are left to pick up the pieces of the broken covenants and shattered lives and hearts that result from leaving His will,and forsaking His commands. Instead, we have only ourselves to blame when this country sinks lower and lower into a spiral of destruction and shame that we ourselves chose to seek after. Let's stop pretending that God has left US. We used to lovingly hang the 'Footprints in the Sand' poem in our bathrooms, feeling as if we were being carried through life, and that once comforted us. But one day, we stopped trusting Him to lead, and decided that we wanted to create our own destiny, so we jumped kicking and screaming out of his loving, protective arms.
The 'Footprints in the Sand', are now simply our own...circling around in blindly wild patterns straight into the raging ocean.
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