America desperately needs God’s Guidance

Well, I was wrong. It happens. My wrongness is something that occurs far more than I’d care to admit. In last week’s article I stated, that come Wednesday November 4th this ugly election season would finally be over. But, I was wrong. Unfortunately, and much to my chagrin, at the time of the writing of this article (and perhaps even it’s publication) the winner of the Presidential race has yet to be determined. It was my stated supposition that millions of disappointed Americans would wake up this past Wednesday morning with a “hope-bashed, post-election hangover.” Instead of this thing being over, it now appears it could drag on for weeks! With talks of legal battles and state-wide recounts, who knows when or how the madness will end?

Meanwhile, conspiracy theorists are having a heyday. Social media is abuzz with speculation and accusations. Yet, at the risk of making people mad … it seems to me, much of the supposed interstate scheming and allegations of voter fraud is little more than baseless conjecture and quite frankly reeks of, “my side is losing and I’m not happy about it.” None of us like to lose, therefore, it’s quite natural to claim someone must be cheating. I’m sorry to say, just when we thought this political season couldn’t get any uglier, out creeps the repulsive party-driven propaganda defiantly declaring the whole process is rigged and the American people are being defrauded.

Maybe we are. How do we know?

Here is my concern; what happens if we completely undermine the citizen’s faith in the voting process? What happens in 2024 (you know, the most important election of our lives) when voters no longer have any real confidence their vote is being counted? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting there wasn’t some level of corruption. But friends, as long as fallen humans are involved, there will be some misdeeds. However, don’t you think it would be immensely beneficial if politicians and leaders would weigh their words before posting to Twitter or making ill-founded allegations on national news? Regrettably, true statesmen are few and far between and a commitment to the common good even more rare. We desperately need God.

Yet, candidates are not the only source of biased misinformation. On election night, as the numbers begin to pour in, I purposefully switched between two popular 24-hour news channels. One station is generally considered to be conservative, and the other liberal. Inarguably, there was a slant on how the news and election results were being reported. Which one should we trust? Both have an agenda. Someone has rightly said, “there once was a time when you watched the news to learn what has happened in the world, and from that, decided what to think. Now, the news tells us what to think and we have to decide if the event actually happened as reported!” That is sad indictment, but often all too true.

Further still, social media (Facebook in particular), has employed “fact-checkers” to supposedly stop the spread of misinformation on social media. But at the risk of being a total cynic, who is fact-checking the fact-checkers? Seriously, can we trust those who are telling us to trust them? Perhaps I am overstating the issue, but it seems to me it is getting harder and harder to tell the difference between fact and fiction.

But can I be so bold as to suggest, even as disappointing as it is, it shouldn’t surprise any of us. God warned long ago, this unrest is exactly what happens when you remove the moral mooring of a nation. Friends, when any group of people are no longer tethered to truth, they are bound to drift into relativism. In case you’re unfamiliar with the term let me define it; relativism claims that knowledge, truth or morality are not absolute, but entirely relative to any given situation or culture. Relativism is the religion of far too many Americans for our nation to truly prosper. Whether immoral men like it or not, there are moral absolutes. There are timeless truths given by a Holy God who has seared right and wrong on the conscience of every human. Foolishly, has our nation pushed God’s law from the public view, thereby allowing relativism to reign. What 21st century Americans do not seem to understand is this; when we remove God, we remove the very foundation of truth, justice and goodness.

We need God during this messy election cycle, the next election and every day in between. Without God we can make no claims to honesty and integrity. Think about this, if relativism is right – then facts don’t matter. When facts don’t matter, then it doesn’t matter if politicians and pundits lie or if news outlets fabricate falsehoods. Further still, without virtue derived from our Virtuous Creator, we can make no appeals to justice or morality. Without which, we have no reason to cry foul whether our votes are counted or thrown in the garbage. If there is no God and no moral absolutes, do we really have any basis on which to demand the electoral college does what it’s supposed to do? If there is indeed right and wrong, then by necessity there is a Divine Law Giver, whom we desperately need right now.

We need God. You need God. America needs God. Only the Almighty can bring the national repentance we so desperately need.

No, we still don’t know how this presidential race will end, or who will be sitting in the Oval office for the next four years. Yet, you can be sure of this … God is really good at tearing down our American idols. Therefore, the Christian should not put their confidence in politicians or their promises. Instead, we should remember the counsel of God from Proverbs 29:2, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan.” This is true, whether the ruler is a Republican or Democrat.

Let every Christian pray for God to be merciful to a nation that does not deserve His mercy!

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