What Will It Take To Fix The USA?

Posted by Larry Miller on July 7, 2009 under How | Be the First to Comment

There are almost as many answers to this question of what it will take to the our country back on track as there are people who try to answer it. There is an answer that has worked in the past but is being practiced by far to few. II Chronicles 7:14 tells us, “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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Many of us, myself included, spend far too much time plotting, scheming and complaining and not enough following this advice.

Christians have had a hand in the creation of the mess as we tend to stay wrapped up in our own little world, not actively working to make our country a better place to live for everyone. The blame is not ours alone, but we can be the ones to set things straight. The founding fathers recognized the need for divine guidance and protection as they broke away from Great Britain to start a new nation based on rights given by our creator rather than granted by a monarch.

The Declaration of Independence declares: “We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States…”

This past Sunday my pastor talked about this very thing. He commented that, “We can’t expect our land to be different if we aren’t going to be different.” We’ve all tried complaining. Some of us have tried getting involved in the political system. Some have tried prayer.

So what can me change? I have a humble suggestion for us to consider. Why don’t we consider dropping the first and combining the other two actions. We are commanded to pray for our country and our leaders. But that is not enough. Prayer is an expression of faith but James 2:17 tells us “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

Actions work in two ways. One is to start doing something neglected in the past. The other is to stop doing something we have been doing. We don’t like to think about the “turn from their wicked ways” part too much. However recently we’ve seen “secret sins” come back to both Senator John Ensign and Governor Mark Sanford. Everyone thought they were great men destined for even bigger things, but there was a cancer in their lives that brought them down.

The recent tragedy of football great Steve McNair showed that results of going our own way can be deadly. As a friend of mine commented at the time, “You put yourself somewhere you shouldn’t be, this is the kind of stuff that happens.” While we may not be doing these specific things, each of us may have areas of our lives where we have gone along with the crowd where we shouldn’t have. True, none of us are perfect, but if we expect divine blessing on our efforts, can we continue to turn a blind eye to things we know are not right?

This two prong approach has got to be better than any one alone. For those who have been doing both, congratulations, you get it! Don’t get complacent. Just keep on keeping on. For those of us who have been a little lax in one one, or both areas, it’s time to get to pick up the pace. Our country is on a downhill slide… and picking up speed. It’s time to fight the battle in the streets and on our knees.

One more thing, it is up to us. It’s not up to Barack Obama. It’s not up to Barney Frank. It’s not up to Nancy Pelosi. It’s not up to Harry Reid. The verse says “my people”. That is those who read and understand the word of the creator are responsible. The others have no basis of understanding, they don’t know any better than what they are doing. So let us work together as brothers and sisters, recognizing that we have access to all the power of the universe… if only we put ourselves in a position to use it.
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For some prayer suggestions, check out http://www.politicalchristian.org/pray.html .