"But the people who know their God will display strength and take action." Daniel 11:32 Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven and said, "Let the name of God be blessed for ever and ever. For wisdom and power belong to Him, and it is he who changes time and epochs, He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men." Daniel 4: 34-35
Dear Sweet Moms, I rarely address political issues as I know that many of you who read my blog are going to vote for different people. Yet, this season, I have felt that I cannot stay silent on at least a couple of issues. My daughter, Joy, is participating in a class that a colleague of mine is teaching. They are reading the book, "The Hiding Place" about the life of Corrie Ten Boom during World War II. In the midst of reading the book and giving reports on the times and context of the war, Joy was sharing with me what they were learning about Hitler.
During the time of his rise as a star in Germany, the country was having great financial crisis during the 1930's. Hitler promised to take them out of their financial troubles and to restore a steady economy. This seemed very appealing to the people who, like us, have to figure out how to pay bills, buy food and provide for their families. He was already committed to the reality of killing those who had downs syndrome and sterilizing those who had any defects of any kind (even those who were left-handed!!!?)--especially for those babies who were not perfect. He also believed in Euthanasia--the mercy killing of older people who were ill and ready to die and of no evident value to culture. Yet, those issues were not at the forefront of his promises--the saving of the economy was.
History repeats itself. From the Bible to cultures in all times, people who do not bow their knees before the one true God, will end up failing in life and manifesting great wickedness. We have also, as a nation, turned away from God and consequently the devastating consequences have come upon us. We are no different than those people who were living in Germany in the times of Hitler. We need, though, to see that as God's people, the stewardship of the messages of God and the redemption of Christ needs to be an active part of our lives to bring His ways to bear in every area of our lives. We cannot sit back and be passive and live our lives for our own pleasure. Evil is never passive and never takes a vacation. The future our our children's lives depends on us being strong and active in life today.
Even when I was in London, the headlines the first day we were there, decried the success of a woman who had been very ill, and had successfully died at the hands of a doctor who aided her in mercy killing--to help her commit suicide so that she wouldn't have to keep on living in pain. Then the article told of 300 such cases recently completed. I missed some of the details of the story, but saw it repeatedly in the headlines in subways where we traveled and on a news show as I was eating breakfast in a hotel, trying to keep Joy away from the article, which was very upsetting.
Such philosophy is also taught at Harvard University in our own country. The killing of human beings, be they babies or the aged, is Biblically wrong--no matter how civilized a people we pretend to be. We are no better than the cultures who sacrificed their children to gods in the Old Testament or than Hitler who chose who should live or who should die. Yet, it seems we are much like those who in the pre-war times of World War II, whose concerns were just for themselves and not for the concerns of the whole body of people.
We are a nation in great rebellion to God, who is always an advocate of life and protecting life, nurturing life and caring for the lives of people who are infirm. But let us also consider this. When we are living in a time where a person can casually say, "If one of my daughters got pregnant, I wouldn't want to have her to have to accept the burden of having a baby," and our hearts are so deceived that we can think this is acceptable and not feel deeply grieved about this, then we are in trouble.
I want to make a point that I have many friends and women who I have counseled who have had many scars in their lives from having the sadness of having abortions, or other very difficult issues and I love them and the Lord loves them. There is a grace for all women and men who come into a relationship with the Lord and give their lives to Him there is forgiveness and grace for all of us, whatever our past. Yet, when I read scripture and know how very seriously the Lord looks at the value of children and the abuse of children--even unborn babies, I have to take a serious stand and say that it is an evil in out time about which we cannot be neutral. For the sake of the Lord, we must take a stand.
Getting to this point in history where homosexuality, immorality of every kind, divorce, materialism of every kind which we can indeed equate to idolatry, child abuse, the lack of commitment of mothers and fathers to take responsibility of their children's futures, greediness, self-serving, lack of love and compassion for the poor and so many other obvious sins, is, in my thinking, to a great degree, because Christians have not lived in a holy way.
I have to ponder what the role of motherhood has had in these issues. When mothers are the gatekeepers, making their homes a place of excellence, cultivating love for each other, a reverence and worship of God, spending personal time teaching and discipling their children, keeping their children from worshiping the idol of television and instead serving her children with training and nurture, and giving up of her own time, there will be hope. Then a civilization will be born where the whole culture will be populated with adults who have great souls, a call to the Kingdom of God, a passion to do what is right, a desire to protect the weak, an honest moral character that is the foundation of decisions made in politics, medicine, government, media and the arts.
Yes, it requires great personal sacrifice--but in the battle between evil and good, the allegiance between our commitment to our God or our bowing to Satan has always required sacrifice. Evil is never passive and never takes a break--and neither can God's chosen ones cease to work tirelessly to be about His business.
When mothers have abandoned this great and important responsibility, then children have grown into the kind of adults --a generation of adults--who can be self-centered and self-serving and can overlook unrighteousness without any pang of conscience because it has not been developed. The kind of adults who can passively let others take responsibility for our government and country-to accept and validate those who would promise the moon even though the moon isn't available in reality. When a person has no convictions he cannot operate his life in God's strength. It is moms who help to develop foundations of righteousness in their children's souls. Fathers, of course, are an amazing part of God's plan, but my ministry is to the precious moms who are indeed making a difference every day. I continue to pile up testimonies of great men and women who say that it was the training and prayers and relationship with godly moms who helped them to become great people who accomplished great tasks in their generation. (Hudson Taylor, Napoleon, Augustine, Thomas Edison, and so many more.)
Moms, today, the way you invest your life will indeed have great impact on history. We need to buck up, strengthen the areas that are weak, decide to accept the work load of small children with joy as would please our heavenly Father. The cultivating and raising of great souls is of the utmost importance. Your life is making a difference. Take time in the word, take time to read those books which call you to excellence, spend time praying with friends of like mind--but don't give up!
I have been reading about the Kings of Israel as well as in Isaiah and Jeremiah. When leader after leader compromised the standards of God, the kingdom was thrown into corruption and spiritual disarray and wickedness.
I have also been reading Daniel. He was indeed a godly, righteous leader. He stood for God in a godless culture in Babylon. But he was also an incredible model for prayer. In Daniel 9: 3-19, he shows such an understanding of leaders taking responsibility for their people. Daniel cries out to God with a humble heart, confessing the sins of his people, even though he had not sinned, and asks for God's mercy on behalf of all the people.
He ends with this, "So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Thy servant and to his supplications, and for thy sake, let thy face shine on this desolate sanctuary. O my God, incline Thine ear and hear! Open Thine eyes and see our desolations,..., for we are not presenting our supplications before Thee on account of any merits of our own, but on account of thy great compassion. Oh Lord, hear. Oh, Lord forgive! Oh Lord, listen and take action! For thy sake, O my God, do not delay , ..., because of thy people who are called by thy name."
If God has allowed us to be alive during this time, then he will equip us with the strength to bear up under these times. Our hope has never been in men but in God. Yet the decisions and behavior of men do have consequences. We need to understand that we have lived in a time when our leaders have rejected the reality and supremacy of God. (I believe there are godly people and wicked people in each party, but God intends for believers to be those who would take responsibility to see that righteousness is in the land and that we actively seek how we might promote His kingdom, His salvation and His life every day. May He restore the church to a passion and love for Him.)
We need to, as Daniel did, acknowledge that God is our help. God is our deliverer. He will be faithful to us, his believers, even if we have to bear the consequences of being led by ungodly people. We need to bow our knees before God and acknowledge our need for him as individuals, families and as a nation.
Next Monday morning, we are inviting friends to come to our home to pray with us as Daniel prayed. We will, of course be praying for the election. But more than that, we will be praying for God's forgiveness, for his mercy, for His direction and for His provision. It would be great if there could be families all over the world who will join us in prayer. If we could ask Him, corporately, so to speak for His renewal of our hearts, for repentance in our lands, for strength to do his will, for a spiritual revival sweeping the nations, and for it to start with our own hearts. It will be Monday morning at different times all over the world, so we will be a chorus before the throne of heaven. And of course if that is an inconvenient time, then do it any time on Monday.
May God give each of you strength today and vision to know that even in the small details of your life today, the kingdom of righteousness is growing or diminishing. May you be strong in His grace and spirit to manifest His reality in your home. God bless.
Sally
PS I will have Clay help me put together some scripture and prayer suggestions if that would help you! We will also be praying for you!