The Tired Nation
I think back to why America became the free nation that it is, and why it was settled and developed. People wanted the freedom to be able to worship the one true God without fear. They wanted a place that lifted up their God and many gave their life to pursue this cause. It wasn’t easy, but through perseverance and faith, America became One Nation under God. Our constitution was prayerfully outlined in accordance with respect for what the Bible had to say above all else. As time went on, even those who didn’t follow after the Lord had a noble respect for the virtues this land embraced because of the Bible.
However, in the last many decades, America has disregarded those virtues like never before. America has declared that not only does she not need God, she really doesn’t even want Him to be included in anything. A nation that was once devoted to lifting up His name, has now became so great that she no longer has need of His services. There were a group of people just like this that I have been reading about in Isaiah and Jeremiah. These people used to love God, used to need Him, and used to esteem Him highly. But as time went on, they completely turned their backs on Him. This is what God tells us about these people that so closely resemble the America I see today:
Isaiah 65:1-3a - The Lord says,
“I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help. I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’ to a nation that did not call on my name.
All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people. But they follow their own evil paths and their own crooked schemes.
All day long they insult me to my face..”
The Lord was repeatedly available to this nation. He was longsuffering with their foolishness against Him. The God of all creation wanted to be there for them, but His own creation would not call on His name. They maybe even made it illegal to do so… He opened His arms to them but they wanted their own evil desires more than they wanted Him. They were so arrogant that they dared insult our Lord to His face. And yet, the Lord’s intentions have always been for their good. They felt anger against Him, but they were in actuality saying no to His goodness in their lives.
Isaiah 30:18
And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him.”
Isaiah 43:22
“But, dear family of Jacob, you refuse to ask for my help. You have grown tired of me..!”
Just like the Israelites, America has eaten, drank, and had its fill of success. We have prospered and we have become great in our own eyes. We have become so illustrious that we no longer celebrate our Saviour, we celebrate our own filth and those lifting up that rebellion. We have grown tired of our Redeemer.
Jeremiah 2:11-13
Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at all? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols! The heavens are shocked at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay,” says the Lord.
“For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!
America’s idols are not made of wood or stone, our idols are made of flesh and blood, just like us. We praise those as gods of sorts that seem larger than life to us. Those that live the life we could only ever dream about. Those who have traded their dignity, their self-respect, and their conscious for the sake of their bank accounts and power. We have exchanged glorifying God for cheering and lauding over those that at the end of the day are more miserable than we are. The angelic beings in the heavens gasp in horror at what we esteem as worthy of our time, our attention, and our even our praise. The American people have done the same two things we see mentioned in the verse above.
We have:
Abandoned our fountain of living water. Why is America seeking more anit-depressants, self-help books, and new age spirituality like never before? Because our spirits are as dry as a desert. In our own pride, we have forbidden the Fountain of Living Water from occupying our land.
Made for ourselves broken cisterns that cannot even hold water. We have said, “We don’t need You here, God. We can do this on our own.” We have replaced Him with our own doings, and even when He tries to pour out His goodness on us, we cannot hold it with all that we have lifted up in His place.
The Lord says in Jeremiah 5:7,8 -
I fed my people until they were full. But they thanked me by committing adultery and lining up at the brothels. They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
What motivates our nation is no longer a quest for lifting up the name of our Lord. What motivates our nation is a lust for more. He gave us more than enough, but we still want more for ourselves. We resort to forsaking Him to get the more we believe we deserve. We have forgotten Who He is, lest He need to remind us:
Jeremiah 22-24a
Have you no respect for me? Why don’t you tremble in my presence? I, the Lord, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set. But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me.
They do not say from the heart, ‘Let us live in awe of the Lord our God..”
Our hearts do not desire to live in awe of the Lord. Our hearts desire our wants, our needs, and our happiness above all else.
Many continue to go to church or give God thanks for things He has never approved of. Many continue to give a nod of approval at what the church does and some are even a part of it while they continue in their own deceit. This is what the Lord says about those believing all is well because they support the church all the while their hearts never desire to seek Him:
Jeremiah 7:21, 23, 24
This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Take your burnt offerings and your other sacrifices and eat them yourselves!
This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’
“But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.
We have got to stop deceiving ourselves and those around us. We have to stop buying into the lies our nation is trying to sell us. God doesn’t want our superficial religious customs; He wants our trust and devotion. We give Him that by obeying Him. Not obeying our lustful whims and desires, but obeying Him! Let us not be a stubborn people who forsake Him to seek out our own “happiness”. We will always go backward when we are our number one priority. Let us repent of our own selfishness and pray that our nation returns to the One we came here for.
Lord God, You are the reason America is here. You are the reason we have prospered like we have. You are the reason for our success. To say we no longer want You here is a slap in the face. We do want You and need You in America. Please open our eyes to see how big You are and how dependent on You we are for blessings and goodness in our nation. Please help us turn our hearts back to You and welcome You in every part of our land. I stand and lift Your name high in America. Please forgive our foolishness and arrogance and heal this nation.
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