WHAT CHRISTIANS SHOULD LEARN FROM THE 2020 ELECTION
Many of us are extremely disappointed in the pending most probable outcome of the Presidential election. Though we may feel that the outcome was stolen by illegal votes mailed in by Democrats, our President is fighting the illegal activities through the courts and will hopefully prevail.
If, however, he does not prevail, though we may initially be personally disappointed and distraught over the results, though we may dread the aspect of having to live under a God-hating administration of basically evil people, we need NOT let that keep us in despair and discontent in our status. We must remember the lessons from God's word, which teaches us that ALL events in our lives are controlled completely by God. In Philippians 4:10-13, Paul writes that he has learned to be content in every situation.
Dr. Charles Stanley's sermon today in intouch.org speaks directly to this. He says that we can be content in every situation through our faith in God through Christ Jesus if we remember four lessons: Here is a link to his sermon from today, “Contentment in All Situations”: https://www.intouch.org/listen/featured/contentment-in-all-circumstances.
Dr. Stanley’s four main points are as follows:
1. Remember that every event in our lives is controlled by God and is designed to make us more like Christ on this earth.
2. If we believe #1, then we must submit to God's control of the situation
3. In our submission, we must learn to trust God that this situation, in the long run, is what is best for us to conform us more to Christ.
4. We need to learn to draw instantly from God’s power given to us through the Holy Spirit to guide us through learning to be content in our circumstances and the lessons that God is teaching us through the circumstances.
This lesson caused me to step back and look at the election from a higher perspective. I remembered how God dealt with Israel all the times that nation forgot or intentionally turned its back on God, even after being rescued from four hundred years of enslavement to Egypt by God through His messenger Moses. Is America not in a situation very similar to how God treated Israel?
Has America’s government not turned its back on God as the establisher, sustainer, and protector of this nation?
Has America not instead become arrogant and conceited, believing that it does not need God anymore, or even worse, banning God from all public institutions and teaching that God does not exist?
Has America rejected the teaching of the Bible and, in fact, mocked and turned the truths of God in the Bible into objects of ridicule and condemnation; truths like adultery being a sin, homosexuality being an abomination, same-sex marriage being a sin?
Has America started worshiping false gods like fame, beauty, wealth, sex, drugs, adoration of self, and power, and turned its back onf the God of our founders, the Lord God, creator of the universe, the one true God?
Has America become a nation that sacrifices its unborn children to the God of “a woman’s choice”, or sexual freedom, the same way that Canaanites sacrificed their children to Moloch?
I believe most Christians would answer these questions with a definite “YES”. My personal beliefs say America as a nation has abandoned Christianity. Instead, we have become a nation led by hypocritical politicians, influenced by predominantly secular, misguided news organizations controlled by evil, misguided, narcissistic, brainwashed individuals who do not worship God and fear nothing but failure in the ratings races. We as Christians have sat by and done little to stem the tide of secular humanism that had been spreading through the nation for two generations. Now, our gullible, brainwashed youth are rebelling against us, against God, and against anything that the liberal left says they should rebel against.
My tendencies during this time are probably typical of most Christians. I rotate through spells of anger, frustration, rebellion, depression, sadness, resolve, and determination to fight back. I ask myself “how can so many people be so stupid?”. The soldier/warrior instinct surfaces; to quote my former fighter squadron patch’s slogan “Patience my a**, I’m gonna kill something”! Then that quiet inner voice of the Holy Spirit in me speaks up and reminds me that I made a choice a long time ago to let God be the Lord of my life; to control my thoughts so that they honor him, and I am broken again of my rage, my hate, my sadness, my dread, and I pray to my Savior for forgiveness, and for wisdom to honor Him in all I do.
Today, when I listened to Dr. Charles Stanley, I was reminded of how the Apostle Paul handled himself through the good times and the bad. His experiences taught him how to be content in every situation; abundance, poverty, freedom, abuse, or imprisonment, Paul learned to be content. I reflect back on the Israelites and how they had to learn to turn back to God when they strayed and were enslaved and persecuted, and I see the great analogy to America. It is America’s time to be humbled by God, and we Christians living in America well feel the impact of the chastisement along with those who brought it on us. America has to be chastised, and God will do so as He desires.
This is a lesson evident throughout the Bible. No matter whether we like it or not, God is in total control, and America will be chastised until it sees the error of its ways and returns to God as our Father, Protector, Disciplinarian, and Giver of good gifts. God will NOT allow it both ways. Will there be pain? Yes. Will there be trials? Yes. What do Christians do? We recognize and acknowledge that God is in total control of this situation. Though he may not have imposed it upon us, He definitely allowed it so that we might learn lessons from it that in the long run, conform us more towards Christ.
Finally, the question arises, “do we just stand by idly while all this evil occurs?” I believe that the Bible teaches us that we are to comply with the dictates of our leaders, but it does NOT teach that we should be silent. Daniel was not silent, and he used persuasion to convince his captors to allow him to each foods which did not violate God’s laws at the time. Paul went into the Temples and taught the Gospel regardless of the punishments he received. Virtually all the apostles suffered because of their refusal to stop preaching the Gospel of Christ. Therefore, I believe that it is our duty as Christians to unashamedly profess the truths of the Bible to anyone who will listen. It is our duty to point out lies from our leaders, the news media, and anyone who tries to convince people that God’s laws are not Holy, are from Divine inspiration, and that things like homosexuality, abortion, gay marriage, or persecution of Christians for speaking the truths of the Bible are wrong. I also believe that we need to continue to support our police, firemen, and military and speak against those who try to persecute them. We must stand for truth, justice, and God’s way in America while also being good citizens and obeying our elected leaders.
When David heard how the Phillistines were attacking and mocking God, he put on the whole armor of God and faced his enemy fearlessly because he knew the enemy was evil, and he believe God would deliver them into his hands, which he did. When we are attacked if we defend God, we do not have to stand by and let the evil harm us or our property. The law gives us the right to defend ourselves if attacked by lawless people or groups, and we should not be afraid to do so. It is my belief that we should at first try to convince them of the error of their ways according to God's laws, and we should pray for them, but if they persist with their intent to hurt us, our families, or our property, that we should exercise our right to stop them however it is required to attain that stoppage, using only the least amount of force as possible. I heard someone say that "we are in a war for the soul of our nation". I do not know who said it, but I do believe that is a completely accurate statement. We should not initiate any attacks, but we are perfectly within our rights as citizens, and I believe as a Christian, to defend ourselves and our properties against lawbrakers who are attacking us illegally.
To quote Dr. Charles Stanley, our duty is to obey God, and leave the consequences to Him. God bless America.
