The Destiny of a Nation
Today’s devotional was written by my son, Clark Wrather, who is the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma.
Our God is an awesome God. Last week, I mentioned that God does not cause bad things to happen and I truly believe it. I do believe that he allows the actions of human beings to affect our world. I also believe that our country had enjoyed a special blessing from God, which He has now removed due to our sinfulness.
God does not cause bad things to happen, but He is at work trying to turn those bad things into good. Our Creator moves about the world putting the pieces back together, trying to fashion something better out of the destruction left from the lives of His sinful creatures.
I believe that we can already see some good things that God is going to bring out of the tragedy of last week. Our nation is drawing together. We had thought in terms of: me, I, and myself. Now people are making decisions on what is best for our country. The feeling of community has replaced our rugged individualism. How many of us have had conversations with complete strangers about our country? I have had several and you probably have as well.
People are also turning from themselves to God. It is sad that it takes a tragedy to get people to look to God for answers. God had been an afterthought when everything was going well. Now, He is on the forefront of everyone’s mind. I believe that this is a good thing.
As God’s people, His church, we have a great opportunity. We have a great opportunity to do ministry and to know personal fulfillment. We can move from just thinking about ourselves to ministering to the needs of other people. We can minister to people while keeping God in the forefront of our minds. We are able to do this in the midst of a fallen world that is suddenly, spiritually hungry. We are able to demonstrate God’s love to people that are asking the deep, significant questions of life.
If God’s people would capitalize on these opportunities, our country might experience another Great Awakening. We might truly know revival. If God’s people would seek God, He will heal our land. We need healing.
The questions to ask yourself is this: What am I doing to minister to other people? What am I doing to reach people that are outside of the church? How am I making a difference? Am I focused upon myself or upon others? Am I truly following God in my life? Your answers to these questions are significant, because within them, lie the destiny of a nation.
(How you live your life does affect the destiny of our nation.)