When There is Rot
While reading my One-Year (NLT version) yesterday, the selected passage from Proverbs for that day caught my attention. It was from Proverbs 28:2, and it reads:
“When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily. But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability.”
I’ve probably not been the only person looking several times a day to see if the fog of frustration and intentionally drawn-out proceedings surrounding the so-called impeachment hearings comes to an end and that everyone will just move on and let it all go. It is so easy to just get angry and point fingers at deserving perpetrators whose desire for greed and corruption has lead them to further a divide they have created in their attacks against a duly elected president. The corruption and bold-faced lies, and the irrational statements are genuinely angering, and it is more than understandable to feel that way.
I’ve been praying that the truth will out itself — that may include the destruction of political careers and the depths of horrific scandals being fully revealed. But I was struck by the warning from Proverbs: when there is rot, there is collapse. A government with a moral rot has no chance to be a force of good and godliness on the planet, called to be great and to do great things. The rot has to be cleansed and removed, or collapse will follow. For the past two weeks I have prayed for sudden, supernatural repentance.
I have prayed that leaders will shake off narcissistic, cynical, and godless speech, and stop grabbing for power. I have prayed for public repentance and real change. I have prayed that injustice against the innocent is put to an end. And, if it comes to it, that those responsible voluntarily resign. Our country is in a place of great success and peace — but it is so often buried underneath the rot of corruption, hate, and fear mongering. The headlines too often tell the wrong story, because they refuse to see past their own biases.
The solution is to pray for wise, knowledgeable, God-fearing people to come into positions of leadership, bringing stability with them. Hearts and minds can be changed and relationships and cooperation across party lines can be restored. It’s so easy to just be angry and stay angry, and maybe even pray from a place of frustration. But my hope, even when it seems unlikely and the pigheadedness of humanity seems unconquerable, is that God’s will is done. That righteous, wise, compassionate leaders take charge. Even if some of them were once a part of the rot that we must fight against.
Despite the atmosphere of anger and frustration, as understandable (and even right!) as those feelings are, I want to pray from a place of hope in the powerful, overwhelming, cleansing influence of the Holy Spirit in human hearts. I really believe that is what will win the day.
