Jun 06 2009
Is God ‘For’ America?
For years most Americans, at least most Americans who consider themselves ‘religious’, have assumed God is ‘for’ America. In other words, if God is going to bless any nation, surely He’s going to bless America!
This assumption, however, is based on two other assumptions.
1) That we are a mostly godly or Christian nation - in other words that we have always or mostly acted in a godly manner.
Are we on God’s side? Come on - really? Of course not! Thus, even if this assumption were true at one point and time, it certainly is not true now.
2) That God always sides with the most righteous nation in a dispute.
This, too, is not true. In fact, many times Scripture shows God using a wicked (sometimes extremely wicked) nation to chastise a less wicked one (Habakkuk offers an insiders view of such a situation). Lest we think these situations catch God by surprise and are not really part of His plan, look at Habakkuk 1:5-8. “Look among the nations and watch––Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you. For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, A bitter and hasty nation Which marches through the breadth of the earth, To possess dwelling places that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful; Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses also are swifter than leopards, And more fierce than evening wolves. Their chargers charge ahead; Their cavalry comes from afar; They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat.”
Regardless of what purpose God finds for our nation, we must respond as Habakkuk eventually responded. “But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.. . .When I heard, my body trembled; My lips quivered at the voice; Rottenness entered my bones; And I trembled in myself, That I might rest in the day of trouble. When he comes up to the people, He will invade them with his troops. Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls–– Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills. ” (2:20, 3:16-19)
Whatever comes to pass, no matter how calamitous it may appear at the moment, there is reason for joy and confidence because God is in control. Although our nation will not always experience God’s blessing (particularly as we continue to spurn Him), as Christians we can rest in His sovereign control.
