Issue One, Part Two of Three
Yesterday I posted part one of this series on how to not despair about the passing of issue one through being thankful. One of the things that I said we can be thankful for is the sovereignty of God in all of this. God is always working things together for good according to Scripture, and we see countless times where God is doing just that. This part of the blog, part two, might not be as encouraging for some as part one is, but I think it is something that we must consider as we look at these issues. I also believe that, once part three is published, this will all fit together a bit more clearly.
There is no doubt in my mind that the passing of issue one on Tuesday is the sovereign hand of God’s judgment on our nation and on our state. I remember last June when the Dobbs decision was announced and Roe, which had been in place my entire life, had been overturned. As I considered this 16 months ago, and celebrated it with other Christians, I was cautiously optimistic. I also, however, was concerned that there was going to be another shoe to drop. The reason I thought more was going to happen was that our nation has refused to repent of her immorality and instead has only put her foot on the accelerator in the last number of years. While God seemed to be granting a reprieve on abortion, which I believe is a judgment of God on our nation, it certainly was not due to some soul searching or seeking out of God by the nation. It seemed to me that God might have been setting up further judgment, and that the result of Dobbs might be worse in the end, not better.
As I look at where the state of Ohio is today, I think we are definitely worse since Dobbs now, not better. Issue one gives the sole authority of whether murdering an unborn child is legal into the hands of the one who is committing the murder, the abortion doctor. In other words, the abortion doctor can now declare themselves innocent by simply claiming that the baby was not viable, and according to this amendment, no judge, court, legislators, governor, or anyone else can overrule their decision. We have basically made little gods out of abortion doctors, and things are worse here in Ohio than they were previous to the Dobbs decision. Worse yet, we might have blamed the decision in the past on the justices on the court in the 1970’s, but now, we have to place the blame squarely on the people of Ohio who voted for this.
As I look at where the state of Ohio is today, I think we are definitely worse since Dobbs now, not better.
So, you might ask, why do I say this is God’s judgment. When God chooses to judge a people, His normal practice is to allow them to do whatever they want. We see this clearly laid out for us in Romans. “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them” (Romans 1:24, Legacy Standard Bible). “For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions; for their females exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural” (Romans 1:26). “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind, to do those things which are not proper” (Romans 1:28). We see that God’s judgment is not necessarily fire and brimstone coming from the sky, but rather letting men do what is wicked and sinful, to practice all kinds of evil, and ultimately, to self-destruct.
We often forget that God, in His grace and mercy, is constantly restraining evil, and that humanity usually hates His restraints as laid out in Psalm 2. We can see this in our own history, as God has given us the grace of fathers in homes to restrain evil on children and society, and our nation has rejected fatherhood and tried to make fathers obsolete and unnecessary. God has given us the grace of government to restrain evil in punishing evil and promoting good, and yet more and more our government is refusing to punish evil, and often even promoting it. God has given us the grace of the church, and we see the church refusing to proclaim the bold, honest truth of God’s Word more and more. We see our society throwing off each of these restraints, and in so doing, our nation is being given over by God to do things that are more and more wicked.
We often forget that God, in His grace and mercy, is constantly restraining evil, and that humanity usually hates His restraints as laid out in Psalm 2.
The normal means of God’s judgment is to let sinful men have their way because it will destroy the society. A society cannot function without morality, without a foundation of truth. As God continues to allow man to throw off these restraints, we can be assured that God is bringing forth His judgment on us. God can simply let man to do what man pleases, and that is enough for man to destroy himself and everything around him. Unfortunately, this often means that God’s people will suffer right along with the unrighteous when they are living in the same society. We see this with many of the prophets, who were forced to live in a society where God was judging that society, forced to go through the same exiles as the unrighteous, and we can expect that we also will have to endure God’s judgment as it continues to come upon our nation.
Now, some may say that after helping people be thankful yesterday, I am leaving them in further sadness today, but that is viewing this from the wrong direction. We are so accustomed to thinking about how things will affect us, and, of course, we do not wish to suffer with the wicked. Take a moment, however, and consider what this means if this is God’s judgment. God is working, God is active, God is moving. Furthermore, God’s eye is always on His people, even during their times of suffering. “Yahweh is your keeper; Yahweh is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. Yahweh will keep you from all evil; He will keep your soul. Yahweh will keep your going out and your coming from now until forever” (Psalm 121:5-8). If God is judging our nation, then we can be equally confident He is also watching over His people in that judgment.
A society cannot function without morality, without a foundation of truth. As God continues to allow man to throw off these restraints, we can be assured that God is bringing forth His judgment on us.
We must bear in mind, though, that we do not exist for our comfort, we exist for God’s glory, and our desire must be His kingdom and His righteousness. We ought to be thankful God is judging the nation, and perhaps through His judgment there may even be revival and repentance. We can be praying that way, praying with an anticipation of seeing how God is going to work in all of this for His glory, for what is good. The fact that God’s judgment is coming forth is not sorrowful to God’s people, it is a place of comfort and peace for the believer, because we know God is going to glorify Himself in it all, and that is our chief desire as His people.
