God of Nations

"We prophesy restoration over ourselves today"

GOD IS THE GOD OF individuals, but also the God of nations. He knew Pharoah’s heart; He knew Egypt, and He used Egypt to defeat the gods they had formed from their humanistic thinking. Rabbi Meir Solaveichik points out that only the God of Israel was known to cross borders. In the deliverance from Egypt, the people feared because Israel’s God performed wonders in Egypt. In the life of the prophet Jonah, when it was discovered what God he ran from, the men on the ship tossed him overboard.

God is not held by our physical boundaries, by borders, by governments, by city structures. Jericho fell when the people praised their God. Walls so thick chariots could run on them became rubble, except where God protected Rahab. And God moves today amongst political parties, amongst armies, and across continents. Where men have planted Egypt, grown temples to false religions, written laws to hold Him at bay, He crosses and works His goodness anyway. From places ignored and forgotten, He raises a remnant, strong in the Spirit to rebuild the old foundations.

“And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” (Isaiah 58:12)

On solid ground, no matter how strong the wind and the rain, the rock beneath them holds fast. The rock beneath us, rejected by men, has become the cornerstone of creation which He created and rescued. Upon Him, we, as living stones, are built into a wall, impenetrable to the enemy, and a house filled with the glory of God. From rubble, broken pottery, leaky vessels, He has structured temples, emanating His healing power.

Four hundred years of darkness ended for Israel with the spoils of Egypt in their grasp. And the Red Sea parted. And God’s presence among them. And bread from heaven fallen for them. Out of Egypt rose a nation which remains, alive, blessed today. Out of Egypt, God has saved people which no sea of confusion can blot out, which no work of the enemy can dissolve and destroy. He is among us, He is within us, and from what He has planted comes the restoration of nations.

But like the people of Israel, who, only two months out of Egypt, chose to murmur and complain, “Would that we had here the food we ate there,” our words have an effect on our lifestyle. They complained and were given manna, bread from heaven, then complained about the manna and did not follow Moses’ instructions on its gathering. Yes, they stood in the wilderness, but they were free and provided for. They had been in Egyptian slavery. They should have remembered their God who delivered them and not focused on their stomach’s rumbling. Hadn’t he parted the Red Sea and sent them across on dry land? Hadn’t He drowned the army of Pharoah in its waters? Where was their faith?

Where is ours? From one man’s exploration, a navigator who risked all to do what most believed was impossible, came the discovery of this land. From the lives of pilgrims and patriots came our beliefs and fortitude. From men and women who saw the vision of freedom, we have ONE NATION UNDER GOD. And the same can be said of God’s work in other places. But what is required of us today is faith, not in ourselves alone, but in God’s design for us, that He sees this nation and cannot forget its promises, nor its heart for Israel and the spread of the gospel.

“For through the written law I was diagnosed as terminal so that I might give up trying to cure myself and instead trust God and live for him. The old me who lived for self—who sought to get instead of give, the me who lived on the survival-of-the-fittest principle—died when I recognized the true significance of all that Christ has done. That old me no longer lives, but Christ—with his character of self-sacrificing love—now lives in me. The life I now live in this body I live by trust in the Son of God, who loved me and freely gave himself to win me back to trust and to purge humanity from selfishness and death.” (Galatians 2:19-20, Remedy)

We pray, we vote, we commit ourselves to godly principles and morality with our feet planted in His Word and on His trustworthiness. We stand in a place of victory because the Lord is on our side. He is for us. He restores people, heals minds, and hearts of families. He pours out his Spirit upon our sons and daughters, on our infants and toddlers.

We prophesy restoration over ourselves today from a place of His everlasting goodness and mercy. We speak peace in our historic places, on our border, and in our educational institutions. We prophesy healing from east to west, north to south, and unity among men of varied cultures and backgrounds, for this has made us who we are since this nation began. May these words of faith we speak reach God’s ear as a pleasing fragrance that brings with it to us rich reward.

“And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians. And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.” (Exodus 14:24-27)

Image background by diversiondepapel at Pixabay


----------
Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com