New Year. Should You Fear?

You know, if ever there was a time in recent years for humans to collapse in panic and defeat, the last two years qualify as the best ones for it. Without question, nearly everything that could be thrown at us to blast our peace and crush our courage viciously descended on us. From disease to cyber bullying, to government overreach, civil unrest, and societal slaughter, this period in modern history slung it all at us. The one thing that keeps us alive on the planet no matter what strikes it is the power of human resilience. Resilience is that bounce-back toughness that refuses to stay down and cannot help but try, try, try again and again and again. Resilience is the “gut grit” that says times are tough, but I am tougher. Most people have it even if they don’t always know how to voice it. in difficult and at times impossible situations, they push back on catastrophes. Summoning instinctual “gut-grit weather crises with enigmatic resolve. That said, the message for the hour is take to heart and hold the line. Stand against what preys on your soul to safeguard your human dignity. Determine to fight and not take flight; bolster your courage and resolve to leave 2022 victorious over its disasters.

We live in the most distressingly opportune times to befall us on earth in ages. Distressing because traumas and calamity swamp most people’s lives every day. Opportune because we get to face-off with what’s happening in the world and maneuver how it impacts us. The best phrase for addressing this duality could be “taking stock to take back”. Such a proactive response to this era is best summed up as “Where We Are, What We Face, and Taking the Lead.” Taking the lead calls for a surge of thought leaders committed to the health, wealth, and wisdom of this and future generations. Their task is to think through, and solutionize terrorist’s depressive campaigns forced upon us daily. Thinkers should come first, and soon, because they see things from the head to the heart to make sense of the senseless. Pray to God for intelligent and prudent thinkers that have His and His people’s interests and objectives at heart.

The year 2022 must birth countless thinkers to ponder what befell and ensnared us over these last two years. Because none of it is magically or quickly going away. Dismantling the demolishment strategy working against the human race seeded itself in our existence so long ago that its stronghold is now vascular. The damage done to us is so embedded in our systems and institutions that they freely operate and circulate throughout all our organs. So, how did this come to be? The answer is gradually. Often imperceptibly, fraudsters talked us into buying their facades, and out of defending ourselves against them. From there they cunningly persuaded us to voluntarily surrender our powerful place in the world little by little. Subtle downgrading (and at times derogatory) terms and commentaries spun their way into our language to make us its subjects. Our everyday talk relishes words and phrases that invite attacks on our way of life. New phraseology so appealed to our quest for novelty that we popularized takeover elements meant to soften our convictions. They made us doubt and disdain the character of our very nationality. To war against our souls anarchists steadily shredded our identity. They cunningly numbed our self-preservation instincts with novel sounding phrases. Such as, “social engineering” or “critical race theory”, “wokeism or wokeness, racial equity”, “social justice”, and “antiracism” among so many others. Collectively, they struck frustrated nerves that motivated us to unconsciously permit their social architects to devalue and demean our beings and our lands under the guise of fixing the problem. Before we rush to respond to all this, we must first answer two questions. The first is why did it work? And the second is what made these tactics so successful? The two questions need to be answered, ideally enmasse, for us to rebound from the devious assaults contrived to maim and eventually dismember us.

One of the things that gave these tactics their strength is relaxation. This speaks to the recreational obsessions that over-enjoyed the fruits of our labors that made us who we were. To explain, fun loving preoccupations can easily slip into slackening that quickly breeds indifference. Distractions then give way to inattention and foster attitudes that take blessings for granted. Being consumed with pleasure and leisure seduces people into neglecting their responsibilities to their successes. Losing sight of what is at stake, they fail is to “keep what was entrusted to them. A good deal of this contributed what we tussle with today.

Excessive commemoration of long-standing or generational success as a nation lulled America into drowsy inattentiveness. Exposing it to the resolves of those who would seize our victories and enslave us for being too smug to notice them slipping away. On this note I would like to say that whenever I instruct, or advise leaders I tell them this: “Number one has only one problem, number two.” “Number two on the other hand has a single obsession, which is, unseating number one.” Anyone wishing to dominate anything in this life cannot afford to dismiss this truth. If number one foregoes its vigilance and lapses into complacency then number two’s dreams come true. Its wishes visions take over and subject number one to its whims and will. That is where we are today.

The last several decades found our nation consumed with self-celebrating rather than watching over and tending its accomplishments. We felt the number two’s of the world were just as content with our triumphs as we were. Failing to realize they too have “bounce-back gut-grit”. Their achievements so far apparently says they were more determined to become number than we were to stay there. Number two’s high hopes and great aspirations concentrates on unseating the number ones in their world. To tackle the arduous task of turning things around we must start our take back program, not with blind recovery, but with well thought out plans that follow Jesus’ advice. We must be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Based on His wisdom, we should mold our initiatives around acceptance and acknowledgement of our part in our current predicament. If we want to get Him involved in it. This is critical because God’s restorations start with humans taking responsibility for their part in earth’s crises. That can only happen with truth. It alone breaks yokes and rescues souls from the social disease-causing agents that drove us to this place.

Often in eras like this, 2 Chronicles 7:14 is quoted to petition God to heal our land. For Him to do so though, we have to figure out what we did for Him to shrug us off in the first place. That answer relies on praying the right words. Our prayers cannot start and stop at “God heal our land” because implies He randomly brought us to this place without cause. Such prayers cast a shadow on His faithful, suggesting He indifferently thrust us under His enemies’ oppression; which is not the case. So, step one in our petitioning must be truth. Particularly since Jesus in John 8:32, 36 says that truth frees people. Truth is the soul’s healing balm; the restorative therapy that treats the soul’s inorganic disorders and dysfunctions. To get audience with our God, truth and honesty have to pave the way. We should realize it’s not enough to quote 2 Chronicles 7:14. We must practically, not just theologically, take steps to walk it out. For example, we should explore what humbling ourselves under God’s hand involves, to uncover what moves Him to purge a devastated land.

When it comes to nations, people called by God’s name humbling themselves for His forgiveness is mandatory and repentance the start point. God’s repentance condition suggests something turned His face from us. We should discern what that is to get God to return His face back toward us. For heaven to shine its favor on us again means turning from our ways and learning His. Scripture tells us that spiritual steps must precede actual steps to bring healing to souls and lands. As one of the Almighty’s realms, we must put teeth into our petitions. Beginning with bluntly stating what closed the heavens over us and propositioning Him on what will reopen them. Jump starting all this relies on unifying Christ’s body and consolidating its doctrine. The “unity of the spirit” is how Scripture phrases it.

Relating God’s eternal word to 21st century issues and events is important for this and future generations to locate Him in the midst of their fiery trials. Thus, thoughts have to lead to talk. If done responsibly, the two map out the new walk God’s mercies impose on us. Once revived by the Lord’s forgiveness and invigorated by His replenishment we are then equipped to tackle earth’s matters with His mind. Not only with His mind, but also according to His way and on His terms. All of this hinges on well-rounded thinkers (and counselors) to circulate Christ’s body with reparation truths that counteract cultural stratagems. If Christ’s thought leaders are well trained and well chosen, they will fit His ecclesia with intelligent self-defenses that with the Savior’s wisdom, subdue the darkness of this world. A good way of doing this is for godly thinkers to agree on what God’s way looks like. After that, enroll in Christ’s truth classes to reinstate His destiny for you. Start out by revisiting your Bible to flesh out what heaven foreknew about these days. Adapt your conclusions (and expectation) to Scripture’s foreknowledge to locate your role in “where we are, what we face, and taking the lead”. Immediately, you can take these preliminary steps to transform your 2 Chronicles 7:14 petitions into experiential realities for yourself and all the earth.