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Has God Ceased to be God? |
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| by Craige McMillan |
| Has God Ceased To Be God?
by Craige McMillan Perhaps there is a reason this election season has been like none other that most of us can remember? In volume three of my novel series there is a brief interchange between the pope, traveling under an assumed name, and a young Brazilian reporter. They are discussing the future actions of a woman who is not at all religious. "Perhaps that is why God has become involved," the pope said. "Do not discount his influence, even among those who do not know of his existence." The pope's response describes much of America, especially right now. Yet at the same time, millions upon millions of Americans, both in their churches and at home, have been crying out to God to restore integrity into government and heal this nation of its self-inflicted wounds. These cries have gone on now for a generation or more. Will God will forever ignore these pleas from those he loves? Looking back a bit, whatever previous generations of leadership personally believed about God, the fact that so many Americans did believe in Him restrained those leaders' behavior. Today, much of the nation wanders around with noses attached to a cell phone screen; the notion that God is no longer active or relevant in today's world has taken hold among these technology worshipers. This change in belief has enabled the nation's leaders—again, regardless of their own personal beliefs—to act as if God no longer does matter in the daily life of the nation. The restraint they once felt has vanished. "My will be done," is now the prayer of selfish and godless leadership at so many levels, chasing power and their share of the almighty dollar as never before. Does this change mean that the God who is moved to compassion in the face of such an increasingly oppressive government is now powerless to act? Does he cease to be God simply because those in government do not know of his existence? The early Christian Church overran the mighty Roman empire, from the inside out. Here is what they believed:
Hmm…"naked and defenseless." That seems to give God all the power. Yet how many of us today think of God as having influence? How many of us know that God can overturn or change things in the lives of unbelievers, an unbelieving government, even an unbelieving world? He doesn't need their cooperation! The world today is in the midst of a gigantic, God-inspired shaking that is rendering all things open and exposed to the light of day. What has shaken loose already has become increasingly ugly at the institutions that have guided our lives, forever. God wants us to see it the way he sees it. When we see the moral collapse we have lived through with God's eyes, it is going to sicken even the morally-jaded generation that exists today. Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela; and now Great Britain with its exit from the European Union have all seen what unrestrained leadership, ambition and greed have done to their nations and peoples. All of this points to what lies down the road for America as well. The spiritual realm does not obey the same laws of nature that confine our thoughts and actions. Our spiritual blindness is responsible for our pitiful condition. "Do not discount God's influence, even among those who do not know of his existence." --- Absolution: The Singularity, volume three of the Armageddon Story Novel Series, will be on sale this September. It is currently with the editor and cover designer. Photo Credit: Wikipedia |
