Dark Days Are Upon Us by Rocky Fleming
“The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Romans 13:12 (ESV)
I don’t mean to discourage you, and in fact I hope to do just the opposite. But I must encourage with truth rather than a simple and sometimes trite perspective that says, “It’ll all work out in the end.” For followers of Christ, we are assured that it will work out in the end. But between now and then, we need to be prepared for a spiritual warfare and discrimination like we’ve not seen before in our lifetime. For those of us who have been around for a while, we can see the rapid decline in law and order, morality, conscience and faith, and the decline has taken our society by storm. It has been like a runaway train. Many of my years, if not most of them starting in 1945, were lived in a country and society that as a whole was peaceful and a safe place to live. However, the last five years has seen an all-out assault on the principles and laws that produced safety and peace. Sure, criminals didn’t like being punished at any time, and some innocents were done so unfairly. There has been, and there is now greater racial hatred with some radicals in all races in this country, and they keep the conflict stirred up, rather than seeking peaceful resolutions. Prejudice is not exclusive. There is no moral high ground for any race if they cannot see their own prejudice and hatred toward a different race, as they spew that hatred. There is no place for it. It is destructive for all.
The increase of crime and violence now days has created a wider problem for overworked and abused peace officers. This has caused broader challenges with catching and jailing the bad guys, and inadvertently leading to seeing some good people being accused falsely. It was never intended to be that way, for our American culture was a social, and governmental experiment founded in 1787 to foster health, wealth and welfare for all of our citizens. The Founding Fathers hammered out the Constitution on that date and immortalized these words as the foundation of our society:
“All men are created equal; endowed by their creator with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
That is the heart of this nation, and if practiced rather than attacked, it will create for all men and women opportunities the rest of the world can never give its citizens. Otherwise, why are there millions of illegal immigrants risking their lives to live here? God forbid that we lose that perspective in our government and our society. But our great nation, and the faith that has undergirded it and has formed it, is under attack, and this is because we are seeing darkness increasing its reign of terror. Just look at the issues, from CRT to white supremacy, from weaponizing political positions against a free people and a free society, to taking away our freedom of speech, unless it is approved by those in power. What causes racial hatred? What causes political confusion and strife with citizens against other citizens. What causes the increase in crime, the lack of empathy for the unborn child, and the increased violence? What causes the bombardment of deadly, illegal drugs entering this country, and a federal government that has no concern for it? Can they not connect the dots that the vast majority of imprisoned men and women and the crimes they committed came because of illegal drugs? Want to reduce crime? Want to reduce the overcrowding with prisons and jails, go to war against the drugs. What has created the darkened minds of people who could help with these issues where they cannot see a clear truth before them? Guess who? It is he whose reign is in darkness, and with darkness.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12
What does this mean? Nothing good, unless we turn to God and He is willing to help. Will He help this nation? Frankly, I think He is doing so now. He’s helping Christians see the real issue that is attacking this country, and it is the evil man behind the value system that he has created. Our comfortable lives as Christians are being shaken. But we are also being prepared for battle against our spiritual enemy to set prisoners free from him. Our investments are eroding, forcing us to look at where our true treasure and dependence lies. But the wealth in our relationship with Jesus grows.
Our false gods are being torn down and are being replaced by Sovereign, Living, and Almighty God who now occupies the throne of our life. Our security is no longer based on what we have, how long we have it, where we are, and how to get where we want to go. Instead, we are being trained to navigate life one day at a time with Jesus, for Jesus, and because of Jesus. Our life becomes simple, but expansive. Our resources are sufficient, but plentiful to be generous with. Our power is enabled in weakness, and God’s all sufficient grace is always there. In darkness we win, for there is no darkness that can hide us from our King’s eyes. We are given an armor of light to shine in darkness lighting the way back to Jesus. It shows a darkened world who we are, and it reminds us that we are sons and daughters of God. We are a royal priesthood, and when the darkness becomes overwhelming to the people of our world around us, we become guides for them that leads them to the Light. Yes. I do believe God is at work right now to help this country. Can you see it?