I’ve been a student of history for over half a century. There is one miracle of history that never ceases to amaze me—the miracle of the American Founding Fathers. There may have been many extraordinary leaders who eclipsed them as individuals. However, never was there a time in recorded history when such a remarkable group gathered in one place intent on such a remarkable purpose—establishing the most righteous and just government on the earth, committed to establishing and preserving liberty and justice for all.
What they established was a government that had never been seen on the earth before, one that existed to serve the people and not the other way around. One might contend that what was given through Moses, having come straight from God, was obviously better, but it was not because it was not intended to be. What came through Moses was a law intended to prepare mankind for the better government, one that could only be realized through the New Covenant of Jesus Christ. Our Founders sought to base the government on the New Covenant, not the old. Secularists have tried to detract from this, but it is clear in the Founders own writings that this is what they were seeking to do.
Our founders were virtually all devout Christians, though most were wary of institutional Christianity. The First Great Awakening was the spiritual foundation of the colonies that became The United States. This had not come through the institutional church, and it gave birth to far more independent churches than any previous movement since the first century. Many of these churches would later join together in new denominations, but their founding was more organic and independent. This was also the mindset of most of the founders of our government. They tended to follow Christ instead of the institutional doctrine or dogma of denominations.
John Adams, the second President of the new Constitutional Republic, stated that this form of government was wholly inadequate for any that were not moral and religious. If we lost our morality, or our religious devotion, the Republic could not last. In the last half century, American morality has sunk to perhaps its lowest place ever, and the trajectory is an increasingly steep downward spiral. The religious devotion of the nation also seems to be at its lowest in our history. Both of these are adding to the tottering, and soon departure from the rails, of our constitutional republic. The only thing that can restore us is a revival in the form of another Great Awakening that restores our moral and religious foundations. This is now beginning, and is right on time.
However, for a time our government will be off the rails, bogged down and incapable of getting itself back on the rails that our Constitution provided. For that time, it will be more vulnerable to tyranny and plunder than it has ever been. Surviving this, much less get back on track and moving again, will take the most extraordinary leadership in our history. It will take a leadership greater than Washington and Lincoln combined. What we need will be something like a combination of Washington, Lincoln, Moses, King David, and the Apostle Paul. Or we could sum it up and say that “we need Jesus!”
If we seek The Lord we are guaranteed that we will find Him. We also tend to find the aspect of Him that we seek. If we seek Him as Savior, we find salvation. If we seek Him as Healer, we find healing. If we seek Him as our Provider, we find Him as that. If we seek Him as King and Lord, we will find Him as King and Lord. This is what we must do now as a nation.
To have the only true and lasting vision for our nation, we must rise above seeking what we want it to be and seek The Lord’s purpose for our country. He has a purpose and a plan for every nation. Our ultimate success and prosperity will come from seeing His purpose and resolving that we will obey the heavenly vision. So how do we do this? II Chronicles 7:14 tells us how:
Humble ourselves: We do this by not presuming what we want, but by seeking what He wants.
Pray: There is nothing more powerful that we can do than this, and we are promised that if we ask we will receive.
Seek His face: The two primary ways that we recognize others is by their face, or by their voice. This means to seek to know Him.
Turn from our wicked ways: Both righteousness and wickedness are defined by what God says they are, not man. We must have national repentance and the renouncing of those things God calls evil, and embracing what He calls righteousness.
Having “eyes to see” and “ears to hear” are basic to walking in truth. These are the things that enable us to rise above our lowly vision and see with His eyes and hear with His ears. The pride that leads to the ultimate fall is exalting our own opinion above God’s opinion. This is why we must start with humbling ourselves and renouncing our opinions that conflict with His. As we devote ourselves to prayer, seeking His face, and repenting for everything we need to, He will give us His eyes to see and His ears to hear. Then we will walk in truth.
