Why God Is Allowing the Demise of America
Posted on 30 June, 2014 by Paul Brownback
Previously I made the case that Satan is guiding and empowering the forces destroying America. We see in the book of Job that Satan can only work in this sphere where God permits. Therefore, we must conclude that God is permitting this satanic destruction of our nation.
One reason for God's hostility toward America is found in Romans 1:21: "because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful…."
Though the matter of thankfulness in this passage no doubt includes literal giving of thanks to God, I believe that it refers to something more important than expressing gratitude. Foundational to the expression of thanks is the recognition that God is the source of our blessings.
I was blessed with wonderful parents. They deprived themselves of some of the joys and comforts of life so that their children could have things that they never did. Gratitude for all their kindness necessarily needed to begin with the realization of how good they were to me.
It's easy for kids to take things for granted. Of course I should live in a nice house, have plenty to eat, and nice clothing to wear. Of course my father should go out to work every day to provide those things and my mother should do the laundry, iron, clean the house, and make meals. They should also take care of my doctor bills and dentist bills and even pay for an orthodontist so that I wouldn't have to go through life with crooked teeth. So in reality, they just gave me the things I deserved as a kid.
Of course, this kind of ingratitude is self-centered, irrational, and unconscionable. And with this attitude, I would never have reason to say "thank you," which they deserved to hear countless times.
As Americans we have been blessed with countless benefits. We have enjoyed unprecedented prosperity. We have been able to successfully defend our nation. We have enjoyed the peace, order, and freedom that comes with good government. Along with our prosperity has come good education, good healthcare, and many other benefits.
It is difficult for us to fully appreciate these blessings.
I am currently reading a book entitled Kisses from Katie, Why God Is Allowing the Demise of America which records the story of an upper middle-class American girl who right out of high school began ministering to impoverished people in Uganda. (She is now 24.) I would encourage you to read it for many reasons, one being the reminder of how blessed we are. How easy to take for granted running water, electricity, healthcare, enough food to eat, homes that keep us out of the elements, and countless other material blessings that we enjoy while seldom thinking about them.
During the D-Day commemoration this year one commentator called attention to the fact that victory that day was not a slam-dunk, but rather on several occasions hung by a tenuous thread. This prompted him to raise the question, "What if we would not have won that battle and the war?" Can you imagine what life might have been like for us under the rule of Hitler and of the Japanese? I don't think we can fully grasp the horror. Read this article on the Nanking Massacre to get some idea.
Imagine if instead of being blessed with stable government we experienced the instability prevalent in other countries characterized by a coup every so many years, or imagine if every time we had need to do business with the government an under-the-table kickback would be expected.
And why do we enjoy these blessings? Of course the answer is because we are Americans. They are our birthright. That's the way it should be. Why wouldn't we? One evidently wrong answer is that these blessings have been poured out from the hand of God.
And why do I say that this is an obviously erroneous response? Because back in the 60s we moved into a post-Christian era, deciding that we did not need God, indicating that He was of no special value, provided no benefit to our nation. One can almost feel the hubris, the sense of pride and accomplishment in the voices of those announcing that ours is now a post-Christian culture. When our President declared that America was not a Christian nation, it was evident that he made this declaration before the nations of the world in arrogance, the implication being that not being a Christian nation did not represent a net loss but a net gain.
In other words, our President, our intellectual leaders, and others credit God for none of our blessings and therefore view casting Him overboard as no loss.
God's response: "Try on your own, and see how that works for you." What I find especially amazing is that most Americans still haven't figured out that God was the source of all those blessings, and without Him it is not working well at all. Only when we figure that out, repent of our ingratitude, and become thankful can we expect God to display His mercy. Till then, we can count on Satan doing his work of stealing, killing, and destroying.
