Change of Direction

As Israel prepared for a change in leadership, Moses offered words of confidence to the people whom he had led for 40 years. He declared, as we see in Deuteronomy 31:
3 The Lord your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the Lord has said.
4 And the Lord will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites and their land, when He destroyed them.
5 The Lord will give them over to you, that you may do to them according to every commandment which I have commanded you.
6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."

The Israelites were told they would be surrounded by enemies, but they would be victorious.  We face a variety of spiritual enemies throughout the course of our lives.  One of those is fear - the ability to walk in faith and to allow God's Word to sharpen our minds will help us against that enemy.  There are other areas in which we may struggle, but we can be confident in the Lord that He has provided for us the ability to walk victorious. 

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God calls us to live confident and distinctive lives, to exhibit faith in Him in the midst of fearful times. Psalm 34 offers these words of inspiration:
(1) I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed.

We are now living in the wake of the commemorations last weekend for the anniversary of the 9-11 attacks.  In those days, we had the potential to be really united as Americans.  There was also the possibility of a permanent shift toward God - people were looking for answers, looking for hope.  Yet, we returned to normal, it seems, all too quickly.  Even the COVID crisis, while it has been a great opportunity to point people to our Savior in the midst of great discouragement, could dissipate without the Church being a force to show people the way to Biblical hope.

But, there has been a lingering effect of September 11, 2001, as evidenced by a new Gallup poll, conducted in August and released at the beginning of this month.  The summary, on Gallup's website, says:

Twenty years after the 9/11 terror attacks, a record-high 64% of U.S. adults say Americans have permanently changed the way they live because of those attacks. Moreover, at least one in four Americans say they, personally, have permanently changed the way they live, and substantial minorities continue to express apprehension about flying, going into skyscrapers and overseas travel.

Now, keep in mind the 64% number is a measure of perception - respondents are saying what they think Americans are thinking.  How it actually affected them: "28% say they have permanently changed the way they live."

Regarding specific types of behavior, the summary stated:

In the immediate days after 9/11, Gallup found 43% of Americans saying they were less willing to fly on airplanes, 35% were less willing to go into skyscrapers, 30% were less willing to attend events where there are thousands of people, and 48% were less willing to travel overseas.

Today, fewer Americans than 20 years ago express reluctance to fly on airplanes (26%), go into skyscrapers (27%) and travel overseas (36%). However, more today (37%) than in 2001 say they are less willing to attend events where there are large crowds. The increased aversion to crowded events is not influenced by the current COVID-19 pandemic, though, because the increase was apparent in a 2017 survey conducted after two high-profile terrorist attacks on crowds in England.

There are also some alarming statistics regarding our fight against terrorism. Keep in mind this poll was taken prior to the bulk of the Afghanistan debacle as the result of the U.S military withdrawal. 28% of U.S. adults in this survey said they believed that America was winning against terrorism; that's a drop of 14 points since 2011.  Now, 22% think the terrorists are winning.  That leaves just under 50% who say that neither side is winning.

And, while 59% of respondents believe the government is capable of protecting its citizens, that is a drop from 75% in 2011 and 88% just after 9/11.

So, what do we see from these numbers?

In our human condition, we are hard-wired, I believe, to want safety and security, and there has seemingly been no shortage of discussion about the extent to which we would surrender our liberty for the sake of safety.  Case in point: a new Ipsos poll shows that 60% of Americans support mandatory COVID vaccinations for Federal employees, as well as employees of private businesses with 100 or more employees.  Just because a policy polls well, though, doesn't mean that it is a good practice, or in these regulations, as a limited number of court cases seem to indicate, that it is even constitutional or consistent with the Bible's prescription for government authority.

And, it does seem that the confidence in governmental authorities is waning.  Almost a 30% drop since 9/11 regarding the government's ability to keep Americans safe. An earlier Gallup poll, about which I commented, showed that only 12% of American adults have "'a great deal' or 'quite a lot' of confidence" in Congress. The number rises to 36% for the Supreme Court and 38% for the Presidency (the institution).  The military has such a rating from 69% of those surveyed.  

It just seems to be permeating our society these days - fear. We see that people are "less willing" to engage in behavior, like flying or going into tall buildings.  You could say that might be prudence at work, but it could be that there is a pervasive sense of fear that is present.  I think we can be more motivated to live distinctive lives, walking boldly, with our confidence in the Lord.  He is our source of ultimate and true security.  We continue to walk in faith, which comes from our immersion in the Word of God.