Big God or Big Government?

Big God "Living By Faith" 
or  
Big Government "Living By Sight"

          All through the bible we hear God saying “Trust Me”.   But most men fear to look for security in God, because to do so you must let go of what is in your hand now, for what God will put there later.  God calls this living by faith. 

God called Abraham to leave everything and go to a place that he would be shown only as he went.  He had to give up the security of his country and the security of his relatives, all for a promise.  The promise that God would meet his every need. 

 Hundreds of years later, God was still looking for people who would trust their security to Him.  This principle can very easily be seen by looking at His dealings with Israel.  God set the nation up as a Theocracy in the midst of nations that were all kingdoms.   Every kingdom had two things that Israel did not have; a king and an army.  God had placed them in a position where they must trust Him rather than themselves for their security.  However, God would never have placed Israel in this position had they not first been provided the record of their father Abraham’s journey of faith.  But since they had as their heritage, the record of God’s faithfulness to Him, God fully expected them to trust their security into His hands as well.

For many years they struggled to trust God with varying success, but the day came when they said, “No, but a king shall reign over us like all the nations.”  Well, God gave them a king along with the warning that taxes were a part of a kingdom style government.  120 years later, the kingdom split because of high taxes, never to be united again.  (I Kings 12)

This national decline continued from generation to generation until we see that they were under Roman rule in the days of Jesus.  But the never changing God never gives up.  He was and always will be looking for men who will live by faith and not by sight.  Then we hear Jesus say, “There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms for my sake and for the gospels sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much more now in this present age.”

The one thing a man or nation can do to honor God is to trust Him.   Trusting everything into His care is the ultimate worship, and God always returns the honor. “Those who know your name will put their trust in You and You, O Lord have not forsaken those who seek you.”  (Psalm 9)

Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun.”  And as Israel struggled to rest in God’s provision and stick with Him in the tough times of testing, so it has been with America.  Our forefathers believed that they were a generation of people destined by God to start a nation; “For the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith” (Mayflower Compact) .  Freedom of religion was of more value than the security of country and relatives.  They had witnessed the heart ache and death that a state-run church could level on a defenseless society.  Their determination to have freedom of religion was paramount in their decisions involving the formation of the laws of government.

To maintain their dream and vision of a great nation, they built America’s educational system for the purpose of spreading and maintaining Christianity.  They believed that Christianity alone provided the moral agent necessary to check the character of both the leaders and the people of a free society.  Their belief was that a free democratic republic was too fragile to survive apart from a moral code of ethics embraced by the majority of its people.  

As previously stated, their conviction along this line is seen in the purpose for which they founded their educational system from the universities down through the elementary schools.  Nearly all Americans started their education with The New England Primer, Blue Back Speller and other books, which were all thoroughly Christian in character. 

Church attendance was strong, moral character was high, and most people claimed to be of the Christian faith.   It would have to be acknowledged that America was a Christian nation.  But even in that day they needed a Great Awakening, because the Christian faith is an individual commitment.  Each person, each generation must make its own commitment to God.  God has no grandchildren. 

Years later came the Civil War over slavery.  Many Americans had for over a hundred years been opposed to slavery and it was nearly defeated by law but wasn’t, so it became a sin prolonged that had to be dealt with.   After the war came another awakening: a return to faith and commitment to God.  Some of the great Hymns that we sing today were used at that time. 

 During the 1920’s, America went through what is known as the “roaring 20’s.”  Morally speaking, this was probably the low point in the nation’s history up to that time.  The Great Depression hit America at the end of this period and lasted through the 1930’s.   Also, the great dust bowl plagued the country in the early 30’s. 

This would have been a providential time for another awakening but none came.  What came was government intervention. The American voter cast their vote against Herbert Hoover and for man-made deliverance, government intervention, i.e. BIG GOVERNMENT.  Just as Israel made a watershed decision in asking for a king, America did the same in 1932 by voting for a governmental solution to a spiritual problem.

Our nation is continuing on its course through history apart from God. As the moral, spiritual, fiscal, and social problems mount, America is seen by many citizens to be on a deadly course. On the other hand, many believe that more government and more spending will bring the sought-after security that they seek.  The Bible says that only a changed heart through Christ can make a difference in an individual. And only changed individuals can make a changed America.  It is rather foolish for a created being to suppose that the Creator would be content to allow his creation to be their own deliverer, disregarding His means of deliverance, the cross of christ. 
 “Kiss the son lest he become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”(Psalm 2:12)