Nena Arias | August 21, 2020
God speaks, “at various times and in various ways” (Hebrews 1:1)The nature of humankind is to conquer and take dominion, hence there is always a quest for control. We were created by God to do some pretty creative things with all that he gave us. Sadly, when sin entered the human chain, this changed everything. Sin triggered a whole different objective and focus when it came to acquiring power and having the upper hand in all things. This was clearly demonstrated in the very first homicide when Cain killed his innocent brother Abel in a jealous rage.
The quest to take dominion is congruent with the original commission the first humans were given at creation in Genesis 1:28, “And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion…’”
But when sin came into the mix the true purpose of the commission got distorted and that is the way it has been since then unless humans choose to work with God, not against him or just for themselves.
The pyramid of power for the human race according to God is first God, who is the ultimate power and authority figure over all. Then it is the father/mother in a family and then perhaps elders in a community who oversee community matters. We, of course, have civil government that oversees the matters of society. But all are to guide themselves by the same authority of God. We find these life guidelines for all of life in God’s holy Word—the Bible. The oath-of-office reminds those taking a public/government position that it is God they are to ultimately hold themselves accountable to when they say, “So help me God”.
Power has a way to gravitate toward a powerful and cunning group or individual and this awakens a hunger to have more and more power. If this hunger is allowed to grow within, people will do anything to gain more power or at the very least not lose the one they have. If people are not careful, they become addicted to power. Power can be addictive when people don’t truly know that they are to serve others with it and not themselves.
In America, we have various forms and positions of power which at the national level can be in Congress, the presidency and the judicial—the highest position in the judicial is the Supreme Court comprised of nine powerful individuals who are appointed for life. Supposedly, this life appointment is so they don’t have to run for office and therefore corrupt the system with biases.
With the recent death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the president now has to nominate a candidate to replace her which has to be approved by the Senate. In times past, this process was fairly simple. The nominee was vetted and examined by the Senate and was approved. But what we have witnessed of late with the toxic political atmosphere in Washington DC, this process is now brutal to the point of tearing to shreds a person’s life even to the point of creating falsehoods only to swing the power of the court in their direction. It seems this is where we are headed yet again as the replacement is appointed to fill the vacant seat.
All hell is about to break loose and we are going to see the ugliness of those who will stoop to any level to steer power to their side. I don’t mean just presenting pros and cons of the candidate, I mean downright dirty mudslinging in all directions where not even the small children of the candidate’s family will be off limits to the opposers. We are about to see this ugly filthy side in our legislators than at any point throughout this administration. If we thought the fight was bad up to now in this administration, we haven’t seen anything yet. We are in for a fight of the century.
This is why I am calling on all of us to earnestly cry out to God for his deliverance and to beg that his will be done in the life of our nation like never before. Prayer changes things and we must engage in it like never before because our lives and the future of this nation depend on it!
The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg has given this coming election more urgency than it had before. This is no time to stand on the sidelines. We are all needed front and center. First, before God and then at the voting booth.
May God help us!
Photo: Fred Schilling/Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States