Testing To Completion

by Rich Farm

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” ~ James 1:2-4he 

We have just come out of the Thanksgiving season and are entering into the season of celebrating our Savior’s birth.  However, many of us don’t always feel joyful during this season. The American Psychological Association stated about 38% of people surveyed said their stress, anxiety, and depression increase during the holiday season. Taking into account the state of our nation, I wouldn’t be surprised if that has risen over the last two years. With job loss, health issues, and inflation it probably has everyone on edge.

I personally have had my seasons of gloom. It was almost as if an ominous cloud would move in and hover over my life through the whole Christmas season. There were many factors that could have contributed to this such as family members moving apart, divorces, and deaths; there seemed to be no reason to celebrate. Even as Christians we are not immune to this.

I have recently been going through a trial since the day after Thanksgiving. I had an accident that has put me out of commission for most mobility. I have had the opportunity to fall into self-pity and complain about my situation but as I reflected on this verse above, I realize there are hidden gems even in the midst of trials and tribulations.  I am thankful how my family could make the trip to visit for the Thanksgiving weekend. I’m thankful I was able to continue our Christmas tree hunt tradition.

Even during my accident, I could be thankful that it wasn’t worse, especially since I’m on blood thinners I’m thankful it didn’t hit any veins that would have caused bigger issues for me. I’m thankful my mom was available to help me when I was pinned by a trailer. There are always things we can complain about but there are also so many more things to be grateful for.

It becomes a battle in our mind to make a commitment to seeing the positive. I’m not saying we speak positivity and deny our hardships but even in the hardships, we can purpose to see the brighter side of things. I mean even at the core of our faith is a belief in hope and expectation.  We are taught through scripture to ask and believe we have received. So, there is an expectation of results. Therefore, even if we are down or struggling through a trial be it physical, emotional, or spiritual we are called to trust God and expect Him to answer.

It will by no means be a cake walk but our faith and expectation will formulate a resolve to help us stay hopeful. If we commit to move forward even in the midst of our trials, we will position ourselves to mature in our faith.  The questions we need to ask ourselves are what do we want to focus on and what will be the end result of that focus?  Philippians tells us to think on those things that are pure and lovely.  So, if we shift our focus, we can take on a better disposition of our circumstances.  We will at the very least be able to endure through the hardships if not rise above them.

A Righteous Government

by Susan Snelling

Doing what is right makes a nation great, but sin will bring disgrace to any people. Proverbs 14:34

The Founding Fathers believed that the American government was a righteous one. A righteous nation does what is right. It protects our inalienable rights. It promotes limited government, consent of the governed and all the other Biblical principles that are the foundation of American government. A righteous government is not one to resist but a tyrannical one is. As a matter of fact, according to the Founders, it was a duty to resist, and obedience to God to do so. Benjamin Franklin said, “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.”

The question of whether or not the government for the Colonies instituted by England was tyrannical or not was metaphorically raised by John Hancock when he said on March 5, 1774, over a year before the Declaration of Independence was written, “I am a friend to righteous government, to a government founded upon the principles of reason and justice; but I glory in publicly avowing my eternal enmity to tyranny. Is the present system, which the British administration have adopted for the government of the Colonies, a righteous government – or a tyranny?” Hancock made clear his animosity toward tyranny and his fondness for righteous government. The tyranny imposed on the Colonies by England was loathsome to the Founders. They found it to be their duty to resist.

Twenty-four years earlier, in 1750, Reverend Jonathan Mayhew preached that when a king went outside the Constitution and became a tyrant, the people should resist him, and to do so was not rebellion. “The king is as much bound by his oath; not to infringe the legal rights of the people as the people are bound to yield subjection to him. From whence it follows, that as soon as the prince sets himself up above law, he loses the king in the tyrant: he does to all intents and purposes, unking himself, by acting out of, and beyond, that sphere which the constitution allows him to move in. And in such cases, he has no more right to be obeyed, than any inferior officer who acts beyond his commission. The subject’s obligation to allegiance then ceases of course; and to resist him, is no more rebellion, than to resist any foreign invader.” According to Mayhew, the people have a right and duty to resist a leader who has become a tyrant just as they should resist a foreign invader. A tyrant in government is the same as a foreign invader, an enemy of America. Think about that!

A government that has become tyrannical causes fear in the people. The Founders never intended for the people to fear the government but for the government to fear the people. Thomas Jefferson said, “When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny.” Do Americans fear the government today or does the government fear us? A righteous government fears the people and this is one reason Jefferson uses in support of the Second Amendment; for citizens to protect themselves against a tyrannical government. “The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” This is why a tyrannical government goes after the guns.

An unrighteous government takes freedom away, infringes on inalienable rights, suppresses the people, and fails to protect them; it uses the money from hard-working Americans for their own benefit or squanders the public trust. They extort the people of their hard-earned money and their property and implement programs that are an affront to the good sense of the citizens. It becomes tyrannical. Freedom is a right and a righteous government protects that right. Benjamin Franklin said, “Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.” It is the duty of Americans to resist attempts of the government to encroach on inalienable rights and to resist the actions of an unrighteous government.

This begs the question, and one that we must seriously consider, is America’s government today righteous or unrighteous? Have some of our leaders “lost the king in the tyrant?”