17 His name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the sun. And men shall be blessed in Him; All nations shall call Him blessed.
18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who only does wondrous things!
19 And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.
When we see the cultural trends that cause concern in our lives, we have to ask ourselves if this is the best we can do - when God wants so much more for us! When we consider that the Creator of the Universe desires for us to call upon Him and He desires to show Himself faithful, we have to ask why that is not taking place, or so it seems. I believe it is incumbent on His people to seek His face, to fervently call upon Him, and ask Him to show up in a mighty way - in our lives and in our society, that Jesus would be lifted up and people would be drawn to Him.
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In Isaiah 37, we find that Hezekiah and the people of Judah were being besieged by the king of Assyria, who was attempting to discourage the people and speak against Almighty God. Hezekiah displayed fortitude and called upon God with fervor:
15 Then Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying:
16 "O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
17 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.
18 Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands,
19 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands--wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them.
20 Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord, You alone."
You've probably had those phone calls come in to your home at the most inopportune time - someone wants to ask you some questions. Well, a few minutes later, you're still answering them! It seems Suffolk University and USA Today found roughly 1000 people to respond to their 51-question survey about Presidential candidates and issues of the day. Real Clear Politics had some of the results and a link to more exhaustive findings.
This survey has been making news recently because it shows a new frontrunner for the Republican nomination - the billionaire candidate Donald Trump. It shows him with a 3-point lead over Jeb Bush, even though in a hypothetical head-to-head, he loses to Hillary Clinton by 17. Bush trails the former First Lady by 4 points.
A majority of respondents said that Trump's comments on immigration would influence their decision, with just under half saying that the comments matter "a lot" to them. Also, just under half say that his comments would make them less likely to vote for him. Just over a third said that Clinton's use of a private e-mail server matters "a lot" to them, with just over a third saying that would make them less likely to vote for her.
Again, this is a sample size of 1,000, with almost 37% of respondents referring to themselves as Democrat, 31% Republican, and 28% independent. Almost 70% of those surveyed were white.
When asked the common question about whether or not they thought the country was on the right or wrong track, 26 percent, just over one-fourth, said the nation was heading in the right direction, with 58% saying it was heading down the wrong track.
There were questions about how various issues would weigh on their decision on who to vote for. Economic inequality was the top issue, with 62% saying it would weigh "a lot" on their decision, followed closely by immigration and Obamacare. Only about 4-in-10 said that same-sex marriage would influence their decision "a lot." Interestingly enough, it was a fairly even split between support for or opposition to same-sex marriage, 44% in favor to 42% against. Just over half - 51.6% percent - said that local and state officials should allow same-sex marriage to be performed in their jurisdictions, with 33% percent saying such officials should resist the court's ruling and block same-sex marriages.
Almost 62% of those surveyed said that religion was "very important" in their lives.
I use survey data to stimulate thought and discussion. From this survey, you can see that a strong majority feels the country is headed in the wrong direction. And, you can't say that, based on these numbers, that so-called "same-sex marriage" has majority support - in fact, one-third of respondents recommend resisting the ruling.
And, with respect to Presidential politics, The Donald leads in this survey, but he gets trounced in a General Election matchup with Hillary Clinton. It's still early in the race.
I think you can surmise that people aren't satisfied, and they may not be convinced that recent changes in our cultural and political landscape are what they're looking for. Take same-sex marriage, for instance, or Obamacare. It's about an even split on whether or not they approve of the President's job performance. But, you have to ask, do people really want change or have we been lulled into complacency?
I think that we have to ask some questions of our own lives. Are we perhaps disturbed with some of the trends we see in our culture? Well, then, we have to then ask if anything can be done. Complacency is an enemy of change, but courage fuels change. God is calling each of us to be people of conviction, not just merely decrying the way things are and hoping that maybe there will be improvements, but to take legitimate, powerful action. It starts with prayer, calling upon God to release His power and presence on our culture. And, we have to allow the Holy Spirit to examine our individual lives to see if we need attitudes adjusted and, then to agree with Him on a plan of action.
We can't merely accept the way things are, when God has something better in store for us. But, He responds to the prayers of His people, and if we're willing to call on Him and participate with Him in His plan, then we can be convinced that He will move, He will act, in accordance with His Word.
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