Pastor's corner - “A Record of God’s Work”

The Bible records generations of God’s wonderful and mind bending works. I enjoy reading about all the miracles and events that God has performed in His divine plan. However, there is one major work of God that many disregard and blame on natural events, nature, or human error. I am referring to the work of disaster and calamity which I will refer to as negative historical trends.

When I read in the Bible such passages as Isaiah 45:6-7, “That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me (God). I am the Lord, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these”, I have to rethink the “natural cause theory” and the “human error theories”. I believe that calamity can include bad leadership, disasters, economic problems, criminal activity, and military defeat (Leviticus 26). As a Christian I am to search the Bible to find God’s solutions rather than blaming people.

When I read in the Bible that the foundation of God’s throne is composed of justice and righteousness (Psalm 89:14) then I know that His works are perfect and happen for a reason. God never sends blessing or cursing upon a nation without a reason. When I read the newspaper and listen to the news reports of current events I am concerned over the suffering of good people, the nation’s economic problems, the godless political leadership , the safety of our military and emergency services personnel, the mismanagement of our natural resources that God has given to us, and I wonder when will Americans wake up?

One part of calamity is bad leadership.

The Bible tells us that God selects leaders for a nation according to its response to Him.

If a nation is worshipping Him as the one and only true God then there is blessing and He selects leaders who fear and worship Him.

If a nation is worshipping idols and false gods, compromising God’s Word and accepting world system values, then it will suffer the consequences of godless leaders who worship false gods.

In Daniel 2:21-22, God reveals that He alone changes the times and epochs, He removes kings and establishes kings, He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding.

He reveals the profound and hidden things, and He knows what is in the darkness and only light dwells in Him.

God can reveal to His believers the minds of their political leaders and how to pray for them.

When we are criticizing our leaders then we are criticizing God! This is not the solution.

The Bible teaches in Romans 13:1-3 that God appoints leaders and we must live with them, suffer from their bad judgments, benefit from their good judgments, and find ways to glorify God in our daily lives. The famous American, Daniel Webster, said, “History is God’s providence in human affairs.” He recognized God’s hand in our national affairs.

When Christians suffer from bad national leadership we must continue to worship and glorify God. We must realize that it is a test of endurance for us (James 1:12). Our Lord Jesus Christ learned obedience through suffering when He was raised under a corrupt government and corrupt religious environment. He did not sponsor a revolution against the Roman Empire nor did He reject the teachings of Moses (Luke 2:52). He glorified God every second of His life. That is the way we are to live.

If God is allowing our nation to suffer then we cannot fix it by electing new leaders. Why? Because Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 tells us that what God has bent cannot be fixed with new leaders. What is the solution? We are to pray for national repentance and focus solely upon Jesus Christ who is the controller of history. We are not to spend our time blaming our leaders, blaming our economists, blaming Congress, blaming businesses, or blaming the military.

In 2 Chronicles 15:2-7 we are told that a nation that refuses to worship God and does not have honest Bible teachers it is clearly headed for destruction. The “disturbances” on that nation are caused by God Himself as discipline upon the nation. Our present trouble is of God not of man. God is telling us that we are on the path of destruction, a negative historical trend, and every believer in the land needs to have a change of attitude or else things will become seven times worse (Leviticus 26:14-39).

If we confess our sins to the Lord and seek His will then we will recover (Leviticus 26:40-46). In the New Testament the same message is detailed when given to the churches in Revelation 2-3. Today the believer in church holds the key to our nation’s recovery. It begins with confession of sin, commitment to the Word of God, and lots of prayer for America. In Proverbs 24:16 it states, “For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of calamity.” In order to rise again we must put our hope in the Lord alone and quit blaming others for our problems.

Chaplain Ron McMurray,

Whitman County Sheriff Dept.