The late night election returns of November 6, 2012 sent thousands of conservative Christians reeling. I was one of them. How could this have happened? Masses of Christians prayed 40 days… God does not approve of abortion or homosexuality but they appear to have won out… How could God have let this happen?

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. God commands us to give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of the Father. (See Philippians 4:4-7)

Is this just a bitter pill we have to swallow? Do we paste on an artificial smile and glibly say everything will be all right? If so, we may have missed the point.

Christians are being called on to go through the waters and the fire with Christ at their sides. It has been demonstrated over and over again that Christianity grows under persecution. The first time it happened was when the early New Testament Christians were scattered as they sought to escape persecution. They took their faith with them. Those who didn’t scatter faced the lions in the Roman arenas, and because it was common knowledge that these were martyrs who refused to renounce their faith, their demonstration of faith is among the greatest witnesses of all time,

But we Christians have been so lukewarm that we have avoided persecution by keeping quiet when we should have stood up for our faith. We were so afraid of hurting someone’s feeling that we didn’t bother to help them see where they were going against God’s will. Now, like a boomerang, all of our neglect is coming back to knock us off our feet if it can. If we couldn’t stand up to simple persecution, what will happen if it gets worse? I hope we don’t have to find out, but my better judgement fears differently.

Our government is broken – seriously broken. We can’t put our faith in politicians. Those who rose to the top had to get there by pleasing those who already got there. It takes more money than even the wealthiest individuals can provide, plus lots of back-scratching to get there. Our government was founded on Christian principles. But if Christian principles are not embraced by those in power, then deception, greed, and political control will bring it down.

America’s problem is a spiritual one. We must not allow government to take the place of God in our lives. The Bible does not tell us to look to government to take care of us. When we do that we are making an idol out of our government. I’m preaching to myself… I’m retired and my only real income is my retirement check and my Social Security. Now am I supposed to trust Government to take care of me and honor those checks, or do I really believe God can and will take care of me if the checks stop coming?

I feel the need for a growing body of believers who is ready to trust God more than the government to supply our needs. …a body of believers who is willing to read their Bibles without the pre-established blinders of religion, and who is willing to apply it to their personal faith and growth. I say this, not to point fingers at any “wrong” religions, but to say “stop letting our differences separate and divide us.” We may think we have all the right answers figured out, but we all stand to be corrected when we meet our Maker face to face one day.

We need to meet people where they are and seek to give them spiritual eyes and a hunger to know Jesus. We must learn to share God’s Word in love without compromising it. When people come together in love to worship and pray, then God will heal our land. (See 2 Chronicles 7:14) But if we as Christians continue to attack and maim each other we will never achieve the unity that is so desperately needed in the USA. God’s people pulling together can survive whatever comes their way. For Christians, just like for the United States – united we stand, divided we fall.

This Thanksgiving we must look to God with sincere thanks in our hearts that HE is still God, and that his purposes will prevail in his time. And we must pray that we will be willing vessels in his hands, willing to be who he would have us to be.