What is the proper response to living in a nation under judgement from God?

I was reminded about this question when Stacie and I were out on Enchanted Rock with Timothy and Katie this weekend.  We had explored the cave and were headed back to our car by a new route off the southeast side of the rock when the girls found this flowering cactus.  It was especially amazing because it was surrounded by hundreds of feet of solid rock. But there, nestled in the shadow of a smaller rock, roots reaching down and finding sustenance deep in a crack in Enchanted Rock itself, this little cactus was thriving.  Surrounded by barrenness, and yet blooming beautifully.

As a Christian, surrounded by the barren and broken lives of people, it is sometimes hard to know the proper response- emotionally, spiritually, and physically- to living in a nation that is under judgement from God.  Do the reports you hear ever cause fear to rise in your heart?

I often start falling for the trap of thinking that it is getting worse than it has ever been before: but then I’m reminded of the Coliseum in Rome.  I have not yet experienced anything like that.  Or any of the drownings, burnings, and hangings of Christians that happened five hundred years ago. Or the shootings, death camps, and beheadings of the last one hundred years.

Christians have had a rough time of it from the beginning.  And from the beginning we have had some very good instruction on how to respond. For instance, when the Apostle Paul appealed to Caesar he was appealing to none other than Nero, that infamous persecutor and  killer of Christians.  But look at what he tells Timothy:

 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
– II Timothy 1:6-7(NKJV)

A simple but powerful message from the Apostle Paul: Bloom where you’re planted.  Do not be afraid.  There is a God in heaven who sees what is happening all around you, and He has given you a job and the gifting to accomplish it.

Just like that little cactus flower that was blooming out on Enchanted Rock.

~

Recently I examined the concept of living in a nation under judgement in a sermon at Living Water Fellowship. You can listen to the message at the link below:

03/03/2013

What is a Christians Proper Response to Living in a Nation Under Judgment? Guest Speaker: Joseph Graber Title: What is a Christians Proper Response to Living in a Nation Under Judgment?