WHY WE CAN'T GIVE UP ON AMERICA
I am a realist. Some are hopelessly optimistic. Others are fatally pessimistic. When it comes to America, I have seen all of the above. One pastor said “Stick a fork in it. It’s over.” Guess which category that would be. When I say realist, I mean I'm aware of the positives and the negatives. I can calculate the probable outcomes and the seemingly impossible outcomes. In reality, all we can really see is the current situation, not the inevitable results.
Maybe we should strive to be “faithists”. Isn’t that what God wants us to be? Throughout the Bible, people saw the reality of grim circumstances. They had a chance to respond- in fear or faith. God commands us over and over again to choose to live by faith.
America Today
In spite of the evening news, the disheartening polls, and the Barna Surveys, let me propose 5 reasons why good, God-fearing patriots should not give up on this country:
1) Grandchildren
Enough said? Our founders often used the word “posterity”. That means "those who would come after". That means grandchildren. They were thinking of you, me, and all the individuals who have enjoyed the fruits and comforts of liberty for over 200 years. Our forefathers were willing to die for a freedom they would never enjoy. Is our generation so selfish that we cannot look forward and see the millions of little ones who are coming after us? We must fight, if for no other reason, for them.
2) The Reality Of Tyranny
I often refer to the “Bully Syndrome”. It is human nature for the strongest and most aggressive among us to try to dominate everyone else. Why? Because they can. It happens on playgrounds everyday, but it also happens among nations.
Our founders designed a system of government to keep the bully out! They knew, however, that this system would only work if the people would be involved. Seriously involved. They would need to be educated, active, and diligent. If they ever became uninvolved, the bully (or the tyrant) would be waiting to jump in and fill the void. What a privilege to live in a country where we can keep the bully at bay. We must exercise eternal vigilance or else freedom will be replaced by tyranny. That is reality.
3) Freedom of Speech
We must speak the truth - and we still can! We still have the first amendment protecting us. However, if Bible believers are intimidated into remaining silent, while every other ideology is voiced loudly in our culture, the day will certainly come when we can no longer speak out. I’ve heard the phrase “use it or lose it” many times, but when it comes to freedom of speech, it is especially true. The very truth we should be speaking is what will fight back the ideas (socialism/communism, political correctness, false religions, etc.) that threaten our free speech. We must speak up!
4) The Red Sea
God delights in delivering His people when there are no other options. He receives glory when he is able to save against ALL odds. In so doing, the tyrant also learns that God is ultimately in control. Consider Moses and the people of Israel backed up to the Red Sea with no possible way of escape. Consider David standing before tyrannical Goliath with nothing but faith and a slingshot. Consider the 3 Hebrews being cast into Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace. In every case, God used his faithful servants to send a strong message to this world’s tyrants.
By faith, America was started to overcome tyranny. Whether it was Jamestown, Valley Forge, Fort McHenry, Gettysburg or Normandy, America has had it’s back against the wall. In these desperate situations, God delivered and received the glory.
Maybe in modern America we need to ask the old question again, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14) God is still looking for people of faith, as He was in Ezekiel 22:30, to make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before Him for the land, that He should not destroy it.
God can do anything. Will we believe Him and let Him?
5) Occupy Till I Come
The command is clear. Quitting is not an option. Retreat is not in the marching orders. Luke 19:13 says “Occupy till I come.” We must be busy, and active when He returns.
Satan wants to crush our spirit. Discouragement is one of his greatest weapons. Proverbs 18:14 says “The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?” If our spirit is defeated, then the battle truly is over. Even if Satan wasn’t going to win, we walk away and he wins by default.
We must guard our spirit, and remember that “greater is he that is in us, than he that is in the world”. (I John 4:4) We must guard our spirit and keep going on, knowing that we will ultimately win the victory! It is not over, unless God’s people believe it’s over. We have no reason to stop fighting.
May we carry on, having done all to stand, and being found faithful when we hear the trumpet sound!
