Christians stand on both sides of the aisle. They face each other with the same passion and the same desire to see America thrive. Each side prays for God to intervene. Because both sides realize that having God’s approval is a badge of honor. Passion and emotions rise as the two sides hurl accusations and demand that their choice is God’s Choice.
Rather than becoming more tolerable, our country has learned to love labels. That’s one of the reasons we are so polarized. With flaws on both sides of this presidential race, some people feel it is essential to find higher ground. Unfortunately, the higher ground they want is a label from heaven. They want to be able to say, “My candidate is God’s choice.” After all, if you say it’s based on prayer….who can prove that claim wrong? Demanding that you have found God’s choice is the same as slamming the door closed to any further discussion.
There is no doubt that God can put people in power. Face it…if He is Almighty God, He can do anything He wants. The fact that He can put people in power should not even be challenged. The argument then is about WHO He puts in power and WHY.
During the events of His crucifixion Jesus schooled Pilate on the power of God.
“Where do you come from?” Pilate asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin. John 19: 8-11
Pretty much settles the argument for me. Yes, God moves in this world and He often helps one person over another. But why?
The why is pretty simple as well. God has a plan and he chooses people that will further His plan. That part is not hard to understand. But if that is true (and I believe it is) why did he give power to some of our questionable historical figures?
Why would God allow these ten men to be in a place of power? Attila The Hun, Idi Amin Dada, Genghis Khan, Vlad Tepes (the worst of the worst) Ivan IV of Russia, Adolph Eichmann, Leopold II of Belgium, Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin.
These guys are listed as the top ten most cruel rulers ever. They killed millions of people by the most evil and torturous means. Reading some of what they did caused me to pray for God to make Hell even hotter for them. (I’ll have nightmares tonight.)
If we assume that everyone in power was put there by God – then God must be the most cruel being of all. He’s not. God is love – He is not cruel.
So….What facts are we missing in this discussion?
God gives us free will.
1. We can say “no” to God. When God encourages good men to fight for what is right, they are allowed to walk away and not participate. Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
a. Evil begins years before it comes to power. The little guy 50 years prior is just as important as the person in power. What I mean by that is that powerful people do not get to a place of power on their own. A parent raised them and allowed bad behavior. A school taught them and allowed evil ideas. A friend groomed and promoted their hate. They lived their life without compassion and without the love of God. No one required them to appreciate the good works around them. Little by little a criminal or an evil leader began to form. Anyone along the way could have stopped the process – but didn’t.
Finally, other evil people sought them out and joined in an evil plot to do harm. Without the resistance of Good men – evil succeeds. That’s not God’s doing.
b. Some evil people are in power because of the apathy or ignorance of those who could keep that person out of power.
It’s been said that Hitler became popular because Germans were tired and he promised them everything they wanted. They were tired of unemployment, tired of being in debt and felt the treaty with France was unfair. They were willing to look the other way in order to have an easier life and didn’t find out the truth about Hitler until it was too late. We can say then that it was possible the German people put Hitler into power – not God.
c. There are times when God “allows” a person to come to power because they will help his plan for good. They will protect God’s Children. They will promote the work of God – not hurt it.
2. Every Christian on the planet has a time in their spiritual life when they are not on the same page with God. In Matthew 16:13 Jesus asked, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
Other disciples gave different answers. In verse 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus called him blessed and told him the Father in Heaven had revealed it to him. (That was a huge spiritual award) Jesus goes on to call Peter the “rock” and proclaim that on him Jesus will “build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Wow! Talk about a spiritual pat on the back. Peter was glowing with praise.
***Spoiler Alert*** It only took three verses for Peter to “loose his connection with heaven” and say something so vile to Jesus that He replied in verse 23 “Get behind me Satan! You are an offense to Me for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Woah! That’s a fast turn around. It’s a great example of how we can be close to God one moment and totally off beam the next. Yet, the good news is that God did use Peter and he did build his church on his witness.
My point is that we must be very careful to understand that as humans (no matter how much we pray) we don’t always see the goals of heaven.
Sometimes God puts people in power to help Christians.
Sometimes he puts them in power to further the gospel.
Sometimes (with the help of apathetic Christians) he allows evil to happen in order to bring a wave of revival. Most people do not change their way of life unless they are uncomfortable with current situations. When was the last time you heard someone say, “My life is going great. I think I’ll shake it up and change everything.”
And sometimes….(I hate this one) he allows evil to succeed as a punishment for our bad behavior.
All of this points to one thing. We will never know the mind of God. We can never say – “that’s God’s Choice” because we don’t know what God’s plans are. God’s plan determines who he chooses – not the other way around. And that my wonderful friends – That’s why we pray.
We pray for God to forgive our sins. We pray for conviction, instruction, wisdom and the ability to live a life pleasing to God. (Hopefully, our repentance will take care of the possibility of punishment.)
We pray for protection. Sometimes God sends a non-christian to help a christian. Sometimes the person he allows in power isn’t a Christian, but he/she is sympathetic to Christians and will protect them.
We pray for God to help us to be bold and to win souls for his kingdom. This will help to insure that evil does not flourish in our country.
We pray for God to give us the wisdom to know what is right and the strength to fight against evil.
Knowing God’s choice for power at any time is dependent on a lot of factors and views from the mind of God. How can we possibly know all of God’s reasons? We can’t. To cut through all the threads on this issue at this point in time I will finally tell you how I’m determining my vote.
I believe that God could use Hillary and put her in power. When I look at all the facts about what she wants to do I believe our faith and our freedoms will be in danger. I don’t believe she will help this country. I believe she will persecute Christians by promoting the far left agenda.
So why would I think she may be God’s choice? God could use her to bring many Christians and churches back to Him. That’s always #1 important to God. He’s not worried about 2016….he wants us to go to Heaven. Heaven is His biggest priority.
Persecution and stress will always cause some Christians to run back to God. Christians have turned their faces away from God in so many ways. We desperately need revival and bold Christians who will resist the American deterioration of Christians values.
I also believe that God could use Mr. Trump. He is not what most of us would call a man of faith and yet….those giants of faith around him confirm that he wants to grow. What I do know is that the first endorsement he received was from a “super strict” Liberty University. You can’t get more by the Bible than Liberty University. Is Mr. Trump investigating and pursing a different kind of life? I don’t know and unless your name is Milania and you are that close to him – you don’t know either.
Am I saying he’s more spiritual than Hillary? No.. but he does seem to be more “protective” of Christians and their way of life. Mr. Trump could be used by God to give us the freedom to get serious about our faith.
So if God can choose or use either of them…..what should I do? That’s where prayer comes in. When I pray I make sure I’ve asked for God’s forgiveness for my own life. Then I ask for God to give us a few more years to spread the Gospel. And finally, I ask God to please not punish America for her sins (and there are plenty).
I will vote for Mr. Trump because I would rather have the freedom to promote the Gospel than accept the possible further persecution of my faith.
The real problem my wonderful friends is not Hillary or Mr. Trump. The real issue is what are you going to do for this country on November 9th?
The President of this country has power, but so do we. If we don’t rely on God’s power to save the souls within this country, electing our favorite candidate means nothing.
Too many pastors and Christians want to promote apathy after the election by saying that God is still on his throne. While that’s true – it releases every Christian from evangelism and promotes apathy. “It’s not my fault. If anything is going to change, God will have to do it.” But God uses people. If his people do not work, God’s work will not succeed.
It’s never been God’s way to swoop in and “force” His will. We have a responsibility to evangelize but also to vote to keep our religious freedoms safe. November 8th is our chance to pray and to cast the vote that we believe will promote religious freedom.
November 9th isn’t a day to relax. November 9th is a call to war. We need to get serious about our faith and how we are going to win souls in America – no matter who wins the election.
If we don’t get busy on November 9, 2016 we will most certainly face another election in 2020 where God’s choice may be to punish America for her sins. God have mercy on us.
Dear Jesus, please forgive America for her sins. Please set our churches on fire with your Holy Spirit. Cause a fresh wind and a new spirit to lead us back to you. Help us to live as you would have us to live. Help us to win new souls for you.
Wrap your arms around us and let us know that we are loved. Give us peace. Heal our land.
God bless America.
See you tomorrow