Build on the True Foundation

"MERCY over JUDGEMENT"
By Andrew Strom

There are people in the world today who, with a spirit of hate and envy, would like to see America ground to powder, and would rejoice to see God "bury" her. But this is not what God is saying or doing. I have spoken before about the unique place that the USA holds because she is the last "Land of Revivals" in the West. She is the only nation that I have ever come across that has a 250-year history of regular Great Awakenings. She has had five great waves of Revival - exceeding even Wales. And this is why God will not let America go without a fight.

Wales was once a "Land of Revivals" also - a land filled with the glory of God. If I remember correctly, there was a hundred-year period in Wales where there were 15 large outbreaks of Revival that occurred. Phenomenal! And yet today she is a shadow of her former self. She has not had an Awakening now for 100 years. Her 'Land of Revivals' status has been lost, and her church attendance has fallen to one of the lowest rates in the UK - just 7%. Crime is soaring. Drug use, fatherless children and unemployment are all taking their toll. -All of this in a land which for 150 years was one of the greatest "Lands of God's Glory" that has ever been seen in the earth.

America is the only one left, and she is also on the road to losing it all. So what does God do in this situation? Does he just fold His arms and do nothing? Does He simply allow America to slip away as Wales did - and lose everything?

No! He must get the attention of the people and warn them of the path they are going down. It is the same as having a son who is on the wrong path and as a parent we bring correction and discipline so that he will not land in disaster. We arrest his fall - even if it "hurts" him - because we love him and do not want to see him utterly destroyed.

I believe God does have a unique place in His heart for America - just as He did for Wales. How else can we explain the fact that He has visited this place so often and so regularly? There is a whole history here between God and these people. He remembers their forefathers and the great exploits that occurred in the spirit. He has trod this territory many times and yes, I do believe God loves America. 250 years of God's blessing has made her the greatest nation the world has ever seen.

And yet, things have changed here. She is no longer the America of old. In so many ways, America over the last 40 years has slowly been abandoning God. And it has become a CRISIS, because we are at the "fifty-year" mark, where another Great Awakening usually hits. And for the first time, I believe it is possible for America to miss her next wave of Revival. (-They have come roughly every 50 years - going back centuries. And if you miss one, as Wales demonstrated, it is ALL OVER).

So what will God do in this crisis? Can his preachers in this land be relied-upon to preach piercing Repentance and see the people turn back? -Not any more. Even the "prophets" of this nation would seemingly rather speak of 'great revelations' than utter the word 'REPENT'. From the greatest to the least of them, many of the church's leaders here are on a "gravy train" of compromise and timidity. "Peace, peace" they cry, while the nation fattens itself in a day of slaughter.

And so God, in His mercy, has to begin bringing "limited judgements" and DISCIPLINE to bear on his unruly children. Because they WILL NOT HEAR HIM. They gather to themselves teachers, having "itching ears". They are rich and increased with goods - and think they have "need of nothing". And so God lifts His hand of protection - just a little - to show what it is like to be a nation without Him.

And SLAM - airliners strike the towers. (-But notice that thousands of workers who should have been there were delayed or absent for some reason). And SLAM - four hurricanes hit Florida in less than a MONTH AND A HALF. This is what it is like to live without God's protection. This is what it is like in many nations around the world - ALL THE TIME. It's just that America has grown used to God's protecting hand. "Surely God can't be ALLOWING THIS??" is the cry. But I believe He is. Because the nation is under 'discipline'. And the Crisis point has come.

People will say that all this is too "harsh". And yet God dealt with His FAVORITE PEOPLE - the children of Israel - the same way all the time. In times of crisis, after patiently bearing with their rebellion for years, He would allow drought and starvation upon His OWN PEOPLE. Armies invaded. Some of his loved-ones DIED. He brought "limited judgements" because they would no longer listen to Him and because if He let them go down the path they were on it would end in disaster. He DISCIPLINED them in the hope that for once they would listen. And sometimes they did. And with crying, weeping and mourning they would return to Him, and He would dry their eyes and heal their land.

So which path is it to be, America? Could it be that God is lifting His hand of protection, little by little, in a series of "limited judgements" so that you too will heed His words before it is too late? I believe this to be the case. And I believe God is doing this in His MERCY - to bring this nation back to Him. The hour is very late.

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