A Nation Divided

It has been said "A house divided against itself cannot stand." How about a nation? Not likely.

We have been looking at "The Lord's Prayer" as part of our new series at Highlands Church. The second section we'll be looking at is "Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven." I was considering that yesterday and what that really means.

When we think about the Kingdom of Heaven, what makes it different from Earth now. The first thing I thought about was unity. There is so much anger and division in the world today. The strife between peoples is, at times, suffocating. When I think about Heaven, and the fulfillment of the Lord's will on Earth, I think about the unity of believers, all working toward a common purpose, all worshipping the one true God, and all being wrapped in His love and protection. That's a picture that is radically different from what we see in the world today.

I couldn't help but think about that last night, election night. In 2008, though I wasn't pleased with all the winners, you couldn't help but feel a sense of hope was sweeping the nation. People turned out the ballot box and went to post-election parties filled with a sense of hope and possibility about the future.

Last night was different. I felt a lot of anger, indignation, and despair. And with the results at the ballot box, we're virtually assured of at least two years of gridlock, all of which leads to a loss of hope.

At a gathering last night, a friend who is a local police officer said crime is up. Thefts, assaults, many crimes have increased. And, he added, so have suicides. People have just lost hope and lost the will to carry on.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

As Christians, our hope comes from the Lord, and the fulfillment of that hope will be the day we see the realization of our prayer... "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." Oh what a glorious day that will be.