"A Wounded America and the Bush Band-aid"

With Gov. Huckabee out of the presidential elections many people are feeling discouraged and beaten. They feel that Huckabee was our only chance at changing our nation for the better and turning it back to the values that our nation was founded upon. Many have already signed a petition saying that they will not vote for Sen. McCain and have vowed to vote their values not what the media tells them to vote. To some this seems like a dark time for the conservative voice in America. We are left without a candidate who holds our values and beliefs and it seems like there is only more bad in the future. However, I would like to voice a different opinion.

America as we know it today has been wounded, it has taken wounds from a anti-christian culture that has damaged both it's foundational values and it's outward functions. By allowing abortion, illegal immigration, and self-centered lifestyles, America has lost much of what once made it a great nation. This was once a place where every life was valuable, we did whatever it took to care for our soldiers in battle, wounded or not. We gave our children the best we had to offer and gave them the best chance possible at living a full and prosperous life. We welcomed people from all over the world to enter our country and become law abiding citizens that benefited the economy and nation as a whole. We used to have friendly relations with all our neighbors and helped them when they were in need, and we cared for others even to the detriment of ourselves. But these values have become increasingly rare and undervalued. America today does not value anymore the inalienable right to life that is given to everyone by their Creator. We no longer ask that everyone living in our country be a citizen and contribute to our society. We are so obsessed with self that we don't notice when our neighbor is hurting and in need. We focus on what we don't have instead of being the nation where we are so thankful for what we have that we create a national holiday to give thanks for our blessings.

America's wound goes deeper than just the surface, many of our core values are now under attack and our foundation is at risk of being overwhelmed. The last eight years have functioned much like a band-aid, they have covered up the wound. President Bush has done a wealth of good in our country, but it has been more on the surface and hasn't dealt with the issues that are fundamental. America's skin looks mostly healed but inside is an infection that is killing us from the inside out. Many people would say that America has never been better, we have the strongest military in the world, we have one of the largest economies and have the most freedoms for our citizens. On the surface all looks well, but a closer look reveals otherwise.

America, once the place where life was valued at all stages is now a place where thousands of babies are murdered everyday. Whereas, we once valued marriage as sacred and between one man and one woman, this fundamental truth is now contested and questioned. As many will tell you America is sick and in need of a healer, and they are right. That healer is God, the healer of hearts and the forgiver of sins. What many Christians don't see is that sometimes you have to cut to heal, sometimes you have to cut away the seemingly healed skin to expose the infection within. Sometimes healing is painful, when Jesus died on the cross it wasn't a pleasant and painless experience. But His pain and death bought our Salvation and healing. Sometimes God uses a bad and immoral leader to cut away the apparently healthy skin so that he can bring in a Godly leader that He can use to heal a nation.

As I stated earlier, many people are feeling discouraged and beaten that Gov. Huckabee has pulled out of the presidential election. But my Bible says that God is in control and that He appoints rulers and authorities and that all things work together for the glory of God. God will bring His plan to pass and sometimes that plan requires that a bad ruler be placed in power to prepare the way for healing and restoration. God is Sovereign and His Word never fails (Isa. 55:11), He has said that if His people will humble themselves and pray then He will heal their land (2 Ch. 7:14). What He doesn't say is how He is going to bring about that healing. We are told to pray and the rest is up to Him.

As the time comes when we are going to remove the "Bush Band-aid" and start the healing process I ask that you join me in praying that God's will be done, even if it means that we experience pain in the process. I believe that my God is bigger than the supreme court and bigger than congress, and I believe that my God will do what He promises even when He doesn't do it my way.