Some challenging events have occurred since my last article. Last week we saw the U.S. election go in a direction that, from a Christian perspective, spells trouble for that nation. Also, our family has experienced some personal tragedies. How do we react to these defeats? Do we deny they occurred, or do we trust God that He is able to make all things work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Ro. 8:28)? As a Canadian, I am not directly involved in the election, but every nation will be affected by what is happening in the States. Furthermore, as a Christian, I am directly involved with the Body of Christ in America because we are citizens of the same Kingdom.
From now until January 20th, God can reverse the decision of the election, but we are not certain that He will do that. He is quite able to do it, but there are other principles involved. He has given man the freedom of choice and He will not take that away even if wrong choices are made. In hope against hope, Christians continue to pray. How then should we pray? To pray effectively according to the will of God, we need to raise our vision above the natural. There are spirit forces at work in our nations which are opposed to God. We must discern and resist these forces. How we resist the enemy depends on our position. Within the Church, we have authority to bind and loose (Matt. 18:18). When done in faith, this results in immediate change. The spirit force is stopped, and the people who were deceived repent or fall into judgment.
Outside the Church, the battle is different. We can intercede as members of a family, a community, or a nation but our position of authority is different. A king only has authority over his subjects. Those who should be his subjects must be brought back into his realm or be cast out of the kingdom. There is a judgment day coming, but today is the day of salvation. Today, we function as the King’s messengers, His ambassadors (Mal. 2:7; 2Cor. 5:20). We also function as His priests, offering up spiritual sacrifices. We confess sins on behalf of the people group we belong to, and we beseech the Lord to have mercy. In His name, we sprinkle the precious blood of the Lamb over the people. We also pray that the will of God would be done on earth as it is in Heaven. As we do this by faith, we support the angels who wage war on our behalf against these spirit forces (Dan. 10:12-13). The answer to this type of prayer is not immediate. It is a continuous struggle, and although we lose some battles, we continue to win the war.
In the book “Touching the Heart of God”, the late Pastor Ernest Gruen described a vision that the Lord gave to him about the spiritual battle in America. He saw a clenched fist where the fingers represented different spirit forces. The thumb represented the spirit of lawlessness. He was shown that the strength of the grip was in the thumb. The main struggle in America, and the world, is the spirit of lawlessness. The devil is supporting this spirit with other spirits like pride, greed, lust and deception. He is scheming in order to bring about the rule of the son of perdition (1Tess. 2:3-12). We have spiritual weapons to fight this battle (2Cor. 10:4,5). We cannot stop the world from turning to the man of perdition, but we can labour to see our loved ones, our communities, and our nations turn to Christ.
The hope of believers is not in a man, or a political party, but in God our Father who can restore righteousness to our nations. American Christians have supported President Trump, not because he is a righteous man, but because he has supported just causes. If the election is lost, it does mean the end of righteousness, but it means there are difficult days ahead. What happens in the future will depend on how we react today. The main reason why the election went the way it did is not because of voting irregularities, but because of the heart of the people. America, like Canada is divided. We are like the nation of Israel in the days of Elijah. On Mount Carmel, Elijah challenged the people with these words: “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” (1Ki. 18:21). The Canaanites worshipped Baal as the god of the land who could give them an increase of crops, fruit and cattle (Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary). The Israelites did the same because they wanted to prosper. Is it any different today? Many believers are double-minded: they want righteousness, but they also love the world and the things in the world. A revival is needed in our nations, but it must happen first in the Church. If we as God’s people humble ourselves and pray, seek His face, and turn from our sinful ways, God will hear from heaven. He will forgive our sins, bring others into His kingdom, and heal our land (2Chron. 7:14). If we refuse to do this, we face a certain judgment. God in His mercy delays judgment, but His kindness is meant to lead us to repentance (Ro. 2:4).
Not all those in the Church have worshipped Baal. Even in the days of Elijah, God had a remnant of faithful ones who had not bowed their knees to Baal (1Ki. 19:18). There is still a remnant in the Church today. They are like the Church in Philadelphia. Because of their faithfulness, the Lord will keep them from the hour of trial that is coming upon the whole world. The role of this remnant is to pray and to call the Church and the nation to repentance. God is looking for those who will stand in the gap to intercede for the nation (Ezek. 22:30). The enemy has entered the city because the wall is broken down. We must remove the enemy, and we must rebuild the wall (Ezek. 13:5). In the last article I talked about Repairers of the Breach. In the next articles, I will address some of those breaches. But first, we must cleanse the temple: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded…Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (Jas. 4:8-10).
Highway in the Wilderness 