TomNaegeleBlogs

With all of the evil permeating American society today, it’s rather easy to become discouraged. News reports are often filled with nothing but the most gruesome details of heinous crimes and cultural rot. It can be very hard to love a country where we murder millions of our most innocent civilians through abortion, and then proudly film those murders and share them with the whole world. It can be tough to support a society that glorifies the most unnatural kinds of relationships with enormous parades and parties. It can be extremely challenging to be proud of a place that boasts corrupt and evil politicians. America is indeed flawed, and it is very easy for us to lose hope as we look around this cultural wasteland. But before that happens and before we stop fighting for our once great country, I ask us all to consider our brilliant national motto: In God We Trust.

The emphasis in our motto needs to be on God. It does not say In Ourselves We Trust. We can and should be discouraged with ourselves because we have already proven to be utterly incapable of preserving our great country. But we can never become discouraged with God. God has blessed America and he can reverse our fate at any instant he sees fit. Have we stopped trusting in Him and His power? Do we have more faith in ourselves than we do in the one who created us? It is imperative that we accept our inability to change our current course, and instead place our hope and our trust in our God.

Too often I hear discouragement coming from conservatives–the very people who claim to love our country the most. If there is a true love of country, there is no room for discouragement. A parent who truly loves a wayward child doesn’t simply give up and stop trying to correct the child, but instead perseveres in their attempt, their duty, to produce a productive citizen. We as Americans have a duty to fight for our country, and we cannot shy away from that duty–no matter how tall the task. America has a long history of beating the odds. From our founding and independence, to our victories in World War II and the Cold War, we have proven time and again that it is possible for us to triumph in the most challenging of circumstances. If only we could stop being discouraged!

Discouragement accomplishes nothing. I often recall the story of Dave Ramsey who began his real estate career in some of the historically worst economic conditions. While his co-workers sat in their offices lamenting the pitiable state of things, Dave was out in the field working twice as hard. He accepted the conditions he had to work with and he made the most of it. Dave Ramsey refused to be discouraged by the terrible challenges he was faced with, and he eventually achieved great success. You and I are today are likewise presented with a less-than-desirable situation to say the least. But if we would only accept these conditions and get to work, we too would be successful.

We Americans must stop trusting in ourselves and instead put our trust back in God. If all good people accomplished this initial step, we would be unstoppable. When motivated by the belief that anything is possible, almost anything is possible. America has annihilated every foreign foe throughout its history, but now the enemy is within our very walls. Our own immoral culture is our own worst enemy. The challenge is clearly laid out before us, and now we simply need our soldiers to rise up and defend this great country from itself. Every citizen is a soldier in this ideological war, and there are two clearly-defined sides. By being discouraged, by being hesitant, reluctant, and unwilling to fight, a side is being chosen. It is not too late to save America. The task is not too tall. We have simply let our pride con us into trusting ourselves rather than God. So please, fellow Americans, let us return our trust to our God where it rightly belongs. We will not be disappointed.