God Shed His Grace?

Throughout the many dynamic, substantive, and earth shaking events of recorded history there have been those who have declared “It’s over!” Be they realists or pessimists, the one missing ingredient in such thinking has been faith in a God who is in control and has His hands in and on history.

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Now before you dismiss me, allow me to take a look back how God delivered His people from times and circumstances that were deemed impossible by man. Any student of the Bible can see His handiwork in guiding His chosen people throughout the Old Testament--and into the New Covenant. But I am concerned right now with God and His dealings with America. America became great by divorcing itself from England which sought to enslave the colonies through taxation--but even more insidious was the plan to install ministers from the Church of England in every town throughout the new world. The colonists had come here through covenant agreements with God--first the Pilgrims whose survival was indeed miraculous and then the Puritans-- whose growth and blessings were directly related to God’s grace. And like the children of Israel, when the Pilgrims or Puritans strayed from acknowledging God’s covenant things went bad--very bad! And it took repentance before God would restore His grace of them. The religious foundations of America indeed set in motion its independence and its thirst for a free republic. And since its formation, she has been tested and God’s grace removed and restored again and again. I believe we have been so self-reliant for generations that we have come to a point where many Americans believe there is a God (86%) but few submit to the God of history. God is a convenience when we need Him--but when we are doing well He is but an afterthought. God is more a slogan than the Supreme Being who through Jesus Christ spoke the universe into existence. The same Americans, who intone the name of God in a patriotic sense rather than in worship, are the same ones who are apt to seek out their daily horoscope or the psychic to see what their next move should be. Faith--real faith in God-- is right up there with mowing the lawn or slugging it out in the rush hour commute. To so many it is a burden to attend church; it is an inconvenience to have to support God’s church through giving a portion of one’s income. We value our relationship with our favorite sports team, a popular movie star-- even American Idol is for many Christians a ‘can’t miss event’ while Sunday services have become obligatory nuisances. We have allowed sin to be legalized, truth to be compromised, and common sense to be the most uncommon of all senses. Is it any wonder God has begun to remove His grace from America instead of shedding His grace on us? When we have fallen into idolatry, greed, and avarice and placed our trust in a government which by all measures disregards life and liberty as well as the special covenant upon which America placed its faith, its obvious God has allowed the recent events of our history to awaken us. And as it has been throughout history, if we ignore such an obvious call to repent and turn back to Him, we do so at our own peril.