Now What?

Dan 4:17  "This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men."

 Okay, so it’s time for the tough questions.  Do you believe that the Bible is true?  Do you believe that God is sovereign? Do you believe that God’s plan is always the best plan? Do you understand that outward circumstances do not determine the Christian’s responsibilities, God’s Word does?

Reading the Facebook posts of many of my Christian friends, I get the feeling that they believe that because of the outcome of the elections, it’s all over, there’s no hope for America, and we might as well go hide in a cave.  The morning headlines appear to many to be a national tragedy.  I confess that I am very disappointed, but I think the best thing that we can do now is to take some good advice.

Over the years, as a pastor, I have had the opportunity to minister to a multitude of people who were facing disappointment, loss, and even tragedy in their lives.  The common response among those people has been, “What do I do now?”

We generally have an idea of where we believe the future will take us, the direction that we are headed and the possible and desired outcomes if things go the way we plan.  When faced with sudden disappointment or a drastic change in circumstance, we are often at a loss to know what to do.

The best advice that I can give is this, “Do the next thing.”  When problems appear to be insurmountable, just focus on the next task.  It’s the famous recipe for eating an elephant, first, you cut it into bite-sized pieces.

So as Christians in America, what is the next thing? Well, let’s look at what Scripture has to say.

First, we must acknowledge that God is the one who puts rulers in place, so it must mean that He will ultimately get the most glory by the results of the election being what they are.

Second, Romans 13 tells us that we must honor the king.  Don’t tell me that it couldn’t mean THIS ruler, because Romans 13 was written while Nero was dousing Christians in tar, lighting them on fire and hanging them up as street lights in Rome.  God takes our response to His delegated authorities very seriously.  As a matter of fact, He says that “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft…,”  so let’s keep that in mind.

Third, let’s consider the impact on our nation if God’s people would spend as much time, energy, emotion, and resources, talking about the Good News as they have been talking about politics.   What if we genuinely addressed the problems of this country at the grassroots level where real change takes place anyway?

You want to put an end to abortion?  Teach your children a biblical understanding of sex and marriage and minister compassionately to those who are reaping the harvest of this country’s moral decay.

You want to preserve the sanctity of marriage?  It’s not the homosexuals that have made marriage a mockery in this country, it is the many, many heterosexuals who have totally disregarded their vows “for as long as we both shall live.”

You want to deal with the fiscal problems of this country?  Deal first with the materialism that leads us to so overburden ourselves with debt that we cannot bring ourselves to be obedient in the tithe or in giving to missions or in helping the poor.

For the last few months, there has been a lot of talk about II Chron. 7:14, hoping that if we heeded its warning, we might be able to achieve our desired outcome in these elections.  The need for God’s intervention hasn’t changed in the last 24 hours.  And the course of action that God demands hasn’t changed either.  We still have to humble ourselves.  Political rants about the unfit nature of this President, don’t come from humble hearts.  We still have to pray.  Prayer is a simple acknowledgement that God knows best and is the only one capable of accomplishing real change.  We still have to seek His face.  God is looking for worshippers who will pursue a genuine relationship with Him, not just for what they can get out of it, not just so that they will get their way, but in order to see his will accomplished. And more than ever, His people, called by His name, must turn from their wicked ways.  It is the only way to see real revival and real change.

Our country has faced moral decay and moral degradation a few times in its history.  Twice, God has sent a Great Awakening among His people and revival has swept over our land.  We need to pray for a third Great Awakening, before it is eternally too late.

Is today a bad day for America?  Only if we let it be.  It can be the beginning of a very good day, if we will just simply set out to be the salt and light we are called to be and to be the change that we want to see. 

My name is Marty Hughes, and I approved this message. :0)