Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD…”
Today it is fashionable to reject the country of America, using the actions of a minority of its citizens as an excuse. This type of thinking carries with it a presumption that somewhere in the world there must/should be a perfect country and that America does not measure up.
Any large group of people will present a mixed picture. Some people will be very good; others will be very bad. Some people will be people of faith; others will try to deny the existence of God. Some people will discriminate on the basis of skin color, education, financial standing, or some other bias, while others make no such distinctions. Even the very people who are being most critical about America are a varied lot as well.
There is no doubt that injustices have been done in America. Those injustices do not negate the fact that the American Constitution has stood for more than 230 years and has served as a model for many other countries around the world. The people who wrote that Constitution were human and had failings, not unlike people who are now attacking that same Constitution. Some of those who wrote the Constitution owned slaves. Some of those who are attacking the Constitution may be wearing garments produced by workers whose wages and working conditions are so poor that they are virtually slaves. Even the lithium used in long – life batteries in cell phones and computers may be the result of child slave labor in the mines that produced it.
Throughout American history, there were those who worked for social justice and those who opposed it. There were those who did all that they could to end slavery, even to the point of endangering their own lives and the lives of their families, to smuggle slaves to freedom. There were those who approved institutionalized oppression of women and minorities and those who worked to end that oppression. The list of comparisons is endless. Bottom Line: There is no perfect country and if there were one, none of us would qualify to enter.
What we all need now is a large dose of humility. One great example is the prophet Daniel. Daniel and three of his friends were captured by King Nebuchadnezzar and carried away to Babylon, where they became slaves. God allowed the Babylonians to capture Israel because they had left worshiping the one true living God to worship demons. Daniel was not part of that decision; he was an innocent victim of it. Daniel knew that he would never see his homeland again. Perhaps Daniel’s family members were killed before his very eyes before he was dragged away in chains to Babylon. If ever someone suffered injustice, that person was Daniel; yet, hear what Daniel chose to do.
Daniel 9: 1 “In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes,a a Mede by descent, who was made ruler over the kingdom of the Chaldeans — 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.”
Daniel realized that his people were to be in bondage for seventy years and that the time was approaching for that seventy years to complete. Daniel could have merely sat back, telling himself that God was in control and that there was nothing he, Daniel, could do about it. But Daniel chose a different way entirely! The entire ninth chapter of Daniel tells how Daniel prayed and fasted on behalf of his people, confessing their sins. (Incidentally, by this point, Daniel was elderly, having served a succession of rulers as an advisor. Daniel didn’t allow his age to hinder him either.)
Daniel 9:7 – 8 “To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You. O LORD, we are covered with shame—our kings, our leaders, and our fathers—because we have sinned against You.”
Even though Daniel was faithfully worshiping God and praying facing Jerusalem five times a day, he still felt compelled to intercede on behalf of himself and his countryment. Daniel made no excuses but made a comprehensive list of all the ways in which Israel had failed to follow the Lord. Daniel not only confessed those sins but also OWNED THEM because he was a descendant of those who had committed those sins. Daniel could have excused himself by saying truthfully that he had always worshiped God and that he had never bowed to an idol. Having confessed the sins of his people, Daniel went on to beg God for forgiveness, for mercy, and for the fulfillment of the prophecies given to Jeremiah. The prophecy referred to here is recorded in Jeremiah 29 in which God promises that the capitivity of Israel in Babylon will last seventy years.
[Jeremiah 29:10 “For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place. 11For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. 12Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivityc and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you, declares the LORD. I will restore you to the place from which I sent you into exile.”]
Today, we should thank God for the nation of America with all of its flaws and shortcomings. We ourselves are human with many flaws and shortcomings; however, we expect others to overlook our failings and to give us credit for our good points. Let us be gentle with our history, realizing that there are huge parts of it about which we might be ignorant, good things as well as bad. And let us above all else thank God that He has not rejected us but has made a way for us to be with Him through redemption by the Blood of Jesus Christ.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for America! Bless this country! Guide our leaders into the ways of truth. Lord, we confess that we have turned a blind eye to the needs of many of our fellow Americans. Forgive us, Lord! Father, we ask that you send your Light and your Truth into America. Show us the areas that need to change, but allow that change to come peacefully and not in destruction. Please help all of us to forgive those who have prepetrated injustices but also help us to move forward to embrace a future in which each citizen will have equal access. Lord, we bind up every spirit of destruction and we ask for your Holy Spirit to enter every place where hatred and violence are building walls. We thank you and praise you and bless you. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
Leave a comment