The Faithful Response to Soft Tyranny
There were two Great Awakenings in America’s past. Are we due for another?
America is at a critical junction right now with the slow erosion of our liberties. The media’s focus on COVID-19 has most citizens unaware of the problem. However, we’re seeing pushback in various places across the country to the abuse of power by both local and state officials.
Today, government officials are essentially telling us how to live our lives, where or when we can work, eat or travel. If we listen to them, we will be fine. If we don’t, we’re all going to die! Okay, that was a little dramatic, but not by much. The fear of dying from COVID-19 is a steady drumbeat each day on every network. More than this is the threat to our rights under the Constitution.
Ben Franklin was concerned about this and in 1755 he wrote, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
America has gone through extreme challenges before. I want to focus on two of them: the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. The first was to obtain our freedom from a tyrannical king, taking on the greatest military power in the world. The second was even deadlier, to fight and put an end to the scourge of slavery in our nation. Before each of these, America went through a period of incredible spiritual renewal. They were referred to as the Great Awakenings.
Each spiritual move of God swept the nation existing at the time. The first swept the country from the East Coast to the Mississippi River. Great preachers rose up, including Jonathan Edwards, David Whitfield, Charles and John Wesley, and David Brainerd. The second move of God swept the nation from the East Coast all the way to the West Coast. Charles Finney was the most well-known evangelist of this move of the Holy Spirit.
The result was the transformation of the moral fabric of the nation. Crime went down, churches exploded, freedom from Great Britain was obtained, and slavery was purged from our nation. These revivals came about because of the moral climate of our nation. I doubt there are many Liberty-loving Patriots today who don’t feel our nation is morally bankrupt. We have lost our moral compass.
In that sense, the current situation is no different than anything we have experienced in the past. But the changes came when God’s people could not bear to see what was happening to their country. They fell on their knees and stormed the gates of Heaven asking God for mercy.
Tomorrow, all across the nation, thousands of prayer groups with millions of Christians will be praying for the next move of God to fall on our country. They’re praying for God’s promise to Solomon for His response to the prayers of His people.
God said, “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (II Chronicles 7:14)
If we draw breath, we are never without hope! It is never too late to call upon Him, asking for mercy on our nation and to heal our land. To do nothing is not an option!
Something to pray about?
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