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by Dave Kubal, IFA President/CEO

Lord, help us to trust You. Guide us as we process these new changes. Thank You for Your sovereignty and for Who You are.

As our nation inaugurated President Biden and Vice-President Harris, all of America is processing this transition in different ways. For the politically active Christian intercessor, there is a strong sense of loss and even mourning.

Has God abandoned us? Why did He not hear our prayers? Is our hope of justice in the land dashed? Will we ever have the hope of free and fair elections again? Is God less faithful than He was on November the 3^rd?

For many, President Trump and his administration represented hope for truth to be known, for justice to be served, and for biblical values to be encouraged in our culture.

Now we are experiencing mainstream media and social media shutting out the truth in ways we never imagined. They are joined by the Left’s political operation to wipe out and delegitimise anything President Trump did. And we have the leaders of both the Executive and Legislative branches of our government who embrace most things antithetical to those of us with a biblical worldview.

Where do we go from here? How do we move forward? I would like to offer three points for you to consider:

1. Correctly understand the sovereign will of God.
2. Realise a revival did occur.
3. Rest in our salvation.

The Sovereignty of God

The sovereignty of God is a mystery. By definition, the sovereignty of God is the belief that God is the supreme authority and all things are under His control. Yet, how it works itself out in day-to-day life is hard to grasp.

Fellow Christians express this though when they say, “Well, God is in control” or “He is still on the throne,” explaining away situations with complex causes by a simple statement. Of course they are correct, but within the sovereignty of God, in His infinite wisdom, He delegates His authority to His created mankind in ways that often make it difficult to understand what He is doing. What are the forms of delegated authority within God’s sovereignty?

• Look no further than the second chapter of Genesis (2:15), where God releases Adam and Eve into the garden to work it and keep it. We are called to be stewards of the creation with the delegated authority — and responsibility — to care for it the way our Creator desires.
• It is shortly after this stewardship mandate that the fall of man comes, allowing evil and sin to enter creation, giving the fallen angels authority to exercise their wishes and setting up their temporary kingdom. Ephesians 2:2 reminds us of this kingdom, “in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air….”
• To combat the authority of this “kingdom of the air,” God put in place the concept of nations and rulers. Romans 13 reminds us, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established… They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” There is no time for a full treatment of civil authority here, but suffice to say there are good governments and there are bad governments. One of IFA’s founders said, “The Church gets the government we deserve.” This statement puts the full responsibility of the quality of government on the activities of the Church!
• Yet another delegated authority is to the Church. Jesus, in some of His final words to His disciples, provides the mission of the Church:
  “All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Mt 28:18-20)
• Yet, there is one more powerful form of delegation within God’s sovereignty and that is the delegated power of prayer. Many verses illustrate this authority, including Matthew 18:18-20, “… whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” The very fact that God created prayer and encourages us to pray is evidence of the authority delegated to us for prayer to shape history.

Certainly, assuring ourselves of the truth of the sovereignty of God is an effective means of guarding our hearts (Prv 4:23) and renewing our minds (Rom 12:2). But, to throw our hands in the air and say, “Oh well, God is in control,” as a way of releasing ourselves from responsibility is a misunderstanding of the delegated authority of God. We are called to steward the creation, to fight against the “kingdom of the air” with spiritual weapons, to disciple governmental leaders, and to support them in prayer.

For nearly fifty years, the Church has allowed our government to protect and promote access to and availability of abortion, resulting in at least 60 million lost lives and positioning us for severe judgment. For sixty years, we have been saying that we can’t talk about politics in the Church, neutering the most powerful force in the world to impact God’s created institution of government. Though a record number of evangelicals voted in this election, it was still less than half of all evangelicals, demonstrating a lack of stewardship.

The Church has allowed the government to run our culture and be seen as our saviour and solution for all of life’s problems.

Has God abandoned us, not heard our prayers, and allowed evil to win the day? Or have we been irresponsible with the delegated authority He has given us?

The Revival Has Started

For years, many have hoped and prayed for a revival. Some even hoped and prayed for revival to come from the Trump administration (I can’t express strongly enough that revival historically and biblically comes from the Church and not government). Most people’s expectation was that revival would be in the form of great numbers of conversions along with a great awakening of spiritual interest.

This type of revival did not occur, but I can tell you an INCREDIBLE REVIVAL DID occur. Acting as a backstop to the evil dispensed upon our nation at new levels, there has been an incredible, supernatural interest in intercession for our nation and intercessory activism in the civil arena.

Countless times I have heard in the last few years, “I can’t explain it, but I have a burden to pray for the nation that I just can’t shake.” Hundreds of thousands of new people have engaged in the ministry of IFA.

This revival of intercessory prayer in the lives of people wanting to engage in the civil arena is real and huge.

While this gives me great hope, at the moment I have great concern. Will these people become discouraged by the results of the election? If this is you, please consider God’s calling — and burden — that He has put in your heart. Please, do not abandon it now.

In addition to this, the climate of religious freedoms we have enjoyed is going to change. There will be restrictions and even persecutions coming. Hate speech or the new indictment of “inciting violence” will increase. I believe this will only enhance the revival.

A large portion of the Body of Christ has been extremely concerned about what is going on in our nation but has not done anything about it. This is about to change. God is working in people’s lives. They are looking for ways to get involved, and I believe we will continue to see a wave of people passionate about intercessory activism.

Rest in Your Salvation

As we process the new environment together and mourn dashed hopes, we cannot lose sight of our individual standing with Christ. Don’t forget:

• He has died for you and you will spend eternity in Paradise. These trials we face are temporary and fleeting in comparison to eternity. It is tiresome in the trenches, but these difficulties will pass. Hope for eternity gives us energy for today.
• God promises blessing for those who are obedient to Him. His blessings don’t mean our lives will always go perfectly smooth, but as Paul said, we must count it “pure joy” and thereby receive the blessings (Jas 1:2).
• His Word is alive and brings us comfort everyday. It continues to amaze me after walking with the Lord for four decades that I can read a Scripture I have read so many times before and the words will jump off the page and the Holy Spirit will apply those words to what is happening that very day! Incredible! Spend time in the Word.
• Fellowship with like-minded intercessors brings hope. I constantly draw encouragement from the IFA community. So many wonderful, spiritually deep people consistently offer revelation and insights that aid my walk with the Lord. Thanks to all of you!

Conclusion

The mystery of the sovereignty of God clearly demonstrates there is not one single source that caused the outcome of our recent election, and to throw our hands in the air declaring, “This must be His will,” is shortsighted at best.

The most exciting outcome of this election season is the revival of the intercessory activist. I can’t wait to see what God is going to do through this new group of people, called and empowered by God. And at the end of the day, rest in the wonderful presence of the God of this universe who cares for YOU!

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Originally published at Intercessors for America.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.