Here's a great reminder of our need to always put our trust in God - from the Family Research Council Prayer Team. . .
Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his
strength, whose heart departs from the LORD... Blessed is the man who trusts in
the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. (Jer 17:5,7 NKJV)
Dr. Richard Blackaby (full bio) is
president of Blackaby Ministries International near Atlanta, following his
father, Dr. Henry Blackaby, who founded the ministry. He earned his M.Div. and
Ph.D. at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. After 13 years as a pastor,
and 13 years as President of the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary, he now
serves as Chancellor. This excerpt is from his devotional, Experiencing
God Day by Day, "Trusting God First."
The Israelites of Jeremiah's day believed they could
trust in their army, the diplomacy of their king, and their foreign alliances
to protect them from the powerful Babylonian empire. They gave lip service to
their trust in God, but their actions showed where their faith really was: in
their military and financial might. God spoke through Jeremiah to warn them
that He would not bless those who trusted in anyone or anything instead of Him.
Placing your ultimate trust in anything other than God is
idolatry. How can you know if your faith is not truly in God? Ask yourself
these questions: Where do I turn when I experience a crisis? When I am hurting
or afraid, to whom do I go? When I have a financial problem, whom do I want to
tell first? Where do I seek comfort when I am under stress or discouraged?
God often uses other people as His method of providing
for you. But be careful lest you inadvertently misdirect your faith toward His
provision instead of toward the Provider. God may meet your need through your
friends, but ultimately your trust must be in God. The Israelites were so
stubbornly committed to trusting in human strength instead of God that, even as
the Babylonian army approached Jerusalem, they continued to desperately seek
for a person, or a nation, or an army that could rescue them. They realized too
late that they had neglected to trust in the only One who could deliver them.
Don't make the same mistake as the Israelites. Go straight to the Lord when you
have a need. He is the only One who can provide for you.
Placing our ultimate trust in Almighty God is a major theme
in Scripture both for individuals and for nations. America's Founding Fathers
believed in the providence of God in the affairs of nations and appealed to Him
often. George Washington called upon his Continental troops to seek God and the
Continental Congress prayed throughout the War for Independence, periodically
calling upon the people to seek God, especially before or during major
conflicts in the war. And they were careful to call for thanksgiving after
major victories. During eight years of war, they issued 15 nationwide calls for
either extraordinary humiliation, fasting and prayer, or thanksgiving. The
routine prayer days practiced in the colonies also continued to take place.
For many years, America has been in accelerating spiritual,
moral, and political decline, each symbiotic with the other. God has dealt with
us mercifully. He has allowed us to see the consequences of our sin through
increased violence, crime, massive storms, calamities, and political failures
to remind us of our need to turn to Him. God deals directly with individuals
and with nations. And each of us has an impact on the welfare and destiny of
our nation for good or for evil. Our sins, unrepented of, not only impact our
own lives, but our families, our churches, and our nation. Our courageous acts
of faith and righteousness and consistent godly behavior has great impact as
well.
Even amid a confused and sin-laden society, God is using
relatively small bands of believers who are wholly committed to Him and who
trust in Him to access His miracles and mercies in America, despite our
nation's shocking spiritual, moral, and political divide. Amid the darkness can
be seen the fruit of a growing army of believers and churches that God has
stirred to humble themselves, pray, seek God's face, and turn from their wicked
ways. As that remnant grows over time, I believe God's grace will permeate our
entire nation. People and churches will be changed and the kind of
righteousness that God says exalts a nation will also. While wickedness is on
the increase now, the time may come when righteousness begins to supplant the
evil. With the decline of wickedness and the rise of righteousness, godless
leaders who have managed to increase wickedness through laws that have
corrupted our children, our schools, our cities, and states will be supplanted
as well.
The people of Judah experienced renewal under King
Jehoshaphat. Assaulted by an overwhelming enemy force, Judah was helpless (read 2 Chr 20:1-30). "Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself
to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah." The people
fixed their eyes, not on their own army or weapons, nor on some distant ally's
help. Rather, they fixed their eyes squarely on the living God, trusting Him.
As they did, the prophet said, "You will not need to
fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see
the salvation of the Lord...!" They trusted God. Jehoshaphat sent singers
to lead the army. But the Lord set ambushes for their enemies and when the
Judean army arrived, they found nothing but dead bodies. The enemy armies had
turned against themselves and not a single soldier survived.
If a remnant of believing Americans remains faithful and
continues to grow, it is just a matter of time before God will use His people
and our nation to open wide the doors of entire nations now closed to the gospel.
We could see that happen in North Korea, if we will persist in repentance and
prayer. Meanwhile, we must continue to press on in urging our fellow believers
and countrymen to receive God's grace and turn wholeheartedly to Him. More and
more are turning and praying. More and more are getting the vision to be salt
AND light, devoting themselves to evangelism and to transforming our culture
through transformed character, teaching, and preaching of the word of God as it
applies to our culture -- publicly encouraging what is good and denouncing what
is evil -- and offering and leading communities with godly solutions.
Pictures used by permission from Pixabay
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