Is There Hope for America?
By Ed Silvoso
We are witnessing a presidential campaign that ranks as the worst that any of us alive today have ever experienced-in which each camp vociferously curses the other in a no-holds-barred exposé of their misdeeds, errors and sins.
It has risen to a level that the headlines we read are pointing to the rise in tension and despair, even embarrassment, among American voters. Social media has further made this climate so pervasive that it is almost inescapable.
Is there anything believers can do? Prayers have been offered, but do they make a difference?
A deadline is quickly approaching. On January 20, one of the two top candidates, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, will walk through the front door of the White House as the newly-sworn-in US President for at least the next four years. The enormous burden of the Presidency, complicated by a rapidly-deteriorating world situation plus the enormous weight of personal baggage that each candidate owns is a load too heavy for any human to carry alone.
This is where you and I as Jesus’ Ekklesia (the true governing church), are empowered to play a decisive role.
When I watched Donald Trump’s recent apology for his sexual comments, I saw a man facing a firing squad. He was hopelessly resigned to having to live with something so shameful. But when I watched Anderson Cooper’s interview with Hillary Clinton, posted on YouTube under ‘Hillary Clinton lying for 13 minutes straight,’ I saw in her the same deep, despairing anguish as if she were saying, Is there a way out? Can I be redeemed? Will I have to carry these sins and their consequences for the rest of my life?
This is where hope must enter the picture.
Envision with me for a moment from God’s perspective. All that sin does is set the stage for grace, for “…where sin abounds, grace is ready to overflow” (Rom. 5:20). Can God use a murderer? Yes, He did more than once, the apostle Paul being the most notorious one.
Can God use someone of loose morals? Definitely! David, a man the Bible declares was “according to God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14; Ac. 13:22) previously committed adultery and murder.
In Jesus’ genealogy in the gospel of Matthew, the four Old Testament women listed as His ancestors all had “issues,” the most notorious being Rahab, the Harlot!
Can God use someone who shamefully schemes to make others lie for him? Well, the Father of the Faith, Abraham, did not emulate “Honest Abe” or George Washington when He forced his wife-the equivalent of his chief of staff- to lie so that he could gain political approval.
How was it that God was able to use them to accomplish such inspiring deeds in the Bible? Because they all had an encounter with God that freed them from the shackles of sin and its consequences.
That is what could happen in our present circumstances if we link arms, hearts and voices “to lift up holy hands, without wrath and without dissension” (1 Tim. 2:8) to offer intercession for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to have an encounter with God, like Abraham, Rahab and David did.
One of them is going to sit in the Oval Office soon and whatever decisions are made by President Obama’s successor will impact the world, for better or for worse, and at the moment, the indications are that it will be for the worse.
But we can change that. In fact, we must.
You see, up until now, many Christians out of frustration, disappointment and even anger have engaged in speaking evil of the candidates, the system and even the nation. Cursing binds its object and fuels the fires of the evil one. If instead of cursing and binding them through judgments devoid of mercy and faith to the volume of their sins on public display, we choose to bless them by speaking peace over them, will it make a difference? Absolutely! A curse can be broken any time in the Name of Jesus but a blessing can never be broken nor withdrawn because God is the source.
God wants to move mightily in these times! He is able.
Without Him we can’t, but without us, He won’t.
If not us, who? If not now, when?
Please, answer this call to watch, pray, speak blessing and receive hope! Let us take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Let us destroy every human speculation and come against everything that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:5)
With hope for our nation and the ways God will work through His praying people!
