Marked for Correction

I watched an excellent video last night by my favorite author/teacher, Joel Richardson.  My heart resonated with the way he likened our present condition in America to the time of Israel in the book of Habakkuk, Chapter 1. The prophet is greatly disturbed at the violence, wickedness and injustice in the nation and so he lifts this cry up to the Lord in prayer - a cry so similar to the one we have all been lifting in the past few months:
O LORD, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear? Even cry out to you, "Violence!" and You will not save.
Why do You show me iniquity and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me;
there is strife, and contention arises. Therefore the law is powerless, and justice never goes forth, for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore perverse judgment proceeds. (Habakkuk 1:1-4) Yes we are lifting this same prayer to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and we are experiencing the same frustration as we see things looking more bleak and hopeless than ever.  It DOES seem to us that the "law is powerless and justice never goes forth!"  

But then, as Joel pointed out, the LORD replies to Habakkuk in verses 5-11 and I am sure this reply is most certainly NOT what the prophet expected!  Instead of tender and encouraging words, God tells his prophet "I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you. For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation which marches through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful; their JUDGMENT and their dignity proceed from themselves."

It must have been a terrifying wake-up call for Habakkuk.  And as I studied this first chapter, I felt in my spirit that the LORD must be getting ready to do the same thing with America.  It seems to me that regardless of who we have in the Office of President, our Righteous Father is going to have to deal with the terrible sin in America.  He has shown us such long-suffering for so many years, but neither this nation nor the Church has come to repentance. We are still killing millions of babies and now allowing children to choose what gender they want to be.  There is a great apathy over the land and no passion in the Church to step up and fight to bring prayer back into schools, and sanctity back into marriage.  A dear brother down in Arizona (Robert Ward) just wrote this:  
"Yes, I believe President Trump lost this election greatly in part because of all this evil deceptive trickery, but still all in all mainly because of the blackened heart that has fallen upon America for decades now. Our Father, because of His Holiness and Purity cannot put up with unholiness that has spread across a once great and beloved country founded in the belief of a nation set aside for great freedom to worship Him without government, religious or kingly dictatorship interference."

And so what was Habakkuk's answer to the LORD when he heard about the terrible judgment coming through an invasion of fierce, dreadful people?  Did he curse God or fall away from his faith? Did he turn a deaf ear and refuse to trust God?  No. He replied to the LORD, "Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, You have appointed them for judgment; O Rock, You have marked them for correction. You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness. "

Habakkuk got it. He realized that the sin of the nation had become too much for the Holy One and judgment must come in order to discipline, correct and call the people back to Him.  Is this what God will do with China or Iran or Turkey? Will he allow a fierce invasion to come to our soil? Or will He allow this pandemic to bring people finally to their knees? I don't know what our Mighty God has planned but I know what Habakkuk knew:  God is from everlasting. He is eternally good and His desire for America is that we would pray, humble ourselves, seek His face, AND TURN FROM OUR WICKED WAYS and THEN He will relent and turn and heal us and restore us to the blessings of Heaven and the greatness in the earth that we once knew.

This is a season to pray like never before, beloved. I am preaching to myself as well as to those who read this blog. We MUST fall on our knees and pray for the strength, endurance, and power of the Holy Spirit to move through the tough days ahead and the mercy of God to keep a man in the Oval Office who fears Him so that our Law would again be based on HIS Torah and Justice would go forth!