A friend of mine is a chemist, and when he heard about the chemicals that were being used to disperse the oil in the Gulf after the BP oil disaster, he thought that the dispersants were more toxic than the oil and probably were being used to make the oil disappear from sight. He said this would ultimately do more damage than the oil to the Gulf ecosystem. Just a few weeks ago, they discovered a huge plume of oil sitting on the bottom that was over six hundred feet high, over a mile wide, and over twenty-two miles long! Immediately, there was speculation that there could be more plumes like this.

     As a student of the economy for most of my life, I have felt that things were being done to make the economy appear to be recovering that was very much like the solution for the oil in the Gulf—just make the problems appear to go away—cover them up and get them out of sight. However, the core issues have not really been dealt with at all and are lurking beneath the surface where more long-term damage can ultimately be done.

     At the same time, the Holy Spirit is moving in our land. One thing the Holy Spirit does whenever He moves is to expose what is hidden in darkness while manifesting the truth. This is why our main prayer for our country for the last two years has been for the Spirit of Truth to move upon our land, and He seems to be moving relentlessly. Because of this, regardless of how evil and darkness may seem to be prevailing, the truth will be known and will ultimately prevail.

     Several years ago, I had a dream in which I was told that if we would honor our fathers then the Lord would bring revival to our country. Of course, the biblical commandment that is found in both the Old and New Testaments is to honor our fathers and mothers. However, I was told that we need to honor fathers especially because the assault on fathers and fatherhood has opened the biggest gate of hell into our country, and that only by returning to the commandment to honor them could this gate be closed.  

     As the Apostle Paul explained in Ephesians, the commandment to honor our fathers and mothers is the only commandment with a promise, which is that it may go well with us and that we will dwell long in the land that the Lord has given to us (see Ephesians 6:2). Let’s face it—things have not been going very well for us, and our land is in jeopardy. Many of the problems we now face are beyond human remedy, and turning to God for His help is our only hope. However, God is our greatest hope and always has been.

     We would not have survived as long as we have, nor even been born as a nation, without God’s help. Even so, the Holy Spirit, who is God’s agent on the earth at this time, is the Helper, not the Doer. He will give us the help that we need, but He does expect us to do what we can. Christians are now getting this, and an awakening is obviously beginning. As we awaken, get engaged, and call upon Him, He will move on our behalf. He does what we cannot, but He rarely does what we can do.

     There is one place in the Old Testament when the Lord’s people are commanded to stand still and watch the salvation of the Lord (see Exodus 14:13). A few times He miraculously defeated or destroyed the enemies of His people, but most of the time He required His people to do the fighting, while promising to give them the victory. A basic principle of understanding the doctrine of Scripture is that our doctrine should not be based on the one or two exceptions that are different from the rest of the testimony of the Scriptures, but should be based on the weight of Scripture. However, when there are exceptions, we should remain open to them.

     Whether it was conquering their Promised Land or defeating invading enemies, the overwhelming majority of the time the Lord required His people to do the fighting, and He made up for what they needed to attain the victory. Sometimes the Lord gave them the strategy, and sometimes He did not, obviously knowing that His people already had the right strategy.

     I have been a Christian for about forty years, and I have witnessed many things that lead to the victory or the defeat of Christians. I have watched Christians who were told to “stand and see the salvation of the Lord” in a matter, trust Him and do this, and see a dramatic victory. I have too often seen these same Christians try to use this strategy in everything else and have lived lives of constant defeat from then on. After the first victory these were not following the Lord anymore, but a formula. Witchcraft is based on formulas—Christianity is following a Person.

     Victory comes from following the Lord. Just as He seemed to perform every miracle using a different method, He rarely does things the same way twice. A basic characteristic of the Creator is that He is infinitely creative! If we follow Him, we will be in a constant state of wonder. This is one reason why true Christianity, which is following Christ, is the greatest adventure we can have in this life. It is also the most interesting life we can have. 

     In the natural, it may seem that the problems we are now facing in the nations from every direction are increasingly beyond remedy. However, I have been shown clear evidence that we are ultimately heading for a great victory, and that our greatest times are yet in the future. One way that we are going to see this victory is by honoring our fathers and mothers, or honoring the past, but we must not expect the future to be like the past. We need miracles, and we can expect them, but expect new miracles to usher in a new day.