I Prayed have prayed
Lord, as we enter potentially chaotic times, give us the grace to repent of placing our hope in anything or anyone but You.
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Would I rather have full-out revival and massive harvest of souls in America or would I rather have a government that respects my beliefs and my faith and makes life smooth for me?

If revival and harvest have to come under an oppressive government, would I still desire them as I do now?

This challenge was laid before me during the opening sessions of IFA’s 50th anniversary celebration last November by Dr. Richard Blackaby.

I’ve mused on it since, and it has truly exposed my heart. The Lord was using this challenge to ask me a simpler but critical question:

Where do I place my hope? 

Do I hope in a good government? You betcha.

Do I hope in revival and the great harvest? Oh yes, please, Lord.

Or is my hope in the Lord only?

The Lord showed me if my hope is in anything other than Him — even in very good things like good governance and revival — I’m in danger of idolatry.

Idolatry is and was a danger for God’s people in every era.

In fact, some 500 years before Christ was born, the people in the land of Judah seemed to major in idolatry. Their culture was filled with sexual immorality. They mixed the worship of God with rituals and practices that honored false gods — better known as demons. Leadership was corrupt and greedy.

God’s commands — and God’s prophets — were ignored. Instead, religious and political leaders cultivated false prophets who would invent prophecies to suit their leadership’s plans. They failed to call out the people’s sin.

Does this sound familiar?

Modern America is very like Judah during the prophet Jeremiah’s time.

Jeremiah — and other true prophets of God — had been warning the leaders and people in Judah that the Lord was going to bring judgment upon them. This judgment would be a punishment for sin — because sin will always need to be judged — and a wake-up call for the people to repent and return to the Lord.

Judgment came.

The Babylonians invaded Judah and began to carry away people, starting with upper and middle class craftsmen, business people, religious leaders, and royalty.

God was making the course correction of which Jeremiah and others had warned. But most of the leadership and false prophets continued to preach that the exile would be of short duration — a couple years at the most.

Well, a short time was not what the Lord had in mind. In fact, the Lord instructed Jeremiah to disabuse the exiles of any notion their detention would be short-lived. It would take a lifetime or two.

Jeremiah writes in Chapter 29:5-6, “Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished.” 

The Hebrews were not called simply to tolerate their exile, but to embrace it. Jeremiah continued:

And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace (Jer. 29:7).

The exiles’ fate was linked to that of Babylon and its people.

So where’s the hope, you might be wondering? Hang on,  it’s coming!

In verse 10, Jeremiah writes,

For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. 

The exile would be long — 70 years. This could be a literal span of time or symbolic for a complete period of time. Bottom line: Nothing short of a long stay in the foreign land would knock the idolatry out of the people of Judah.

But after that judgment is fully served, the Lord will gather His people back to Himself. In the oft-cited and much beloved verses 11-14, Jeremiah writes,

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

The people experienced the natural result of the spiritual exile in which they had been living.

But the hope and the promise was that as they submitted to the judgment, they would return out of spiritual exile to the Lord. They would begin to pray to Him again, and they would find Him again. Therefore, they would be gathered back into the Lord and become His people again. To prove this to them and the world, the Lord would restore them to their land.

But the hope for the people of Judah was not in an end of exile. It was not even in the land.

Their hope was in their return to the Lord.

Over these last several months, I have come to know that my hope must be in Him. Nothing less will survive the days to come.

If the civil riots of 2020, the Covid-19 quarantines, and the pro-Hamas protests were turbulent, we had better buckle up because much more chaos is coming.

True biblical hope in the Lord will get us through.

Lord, show us where we are hoping in anything or anyone other than You. Help us repent if You reveal idolatries and lead us to rejoice in the repentance. Help us keep our hope in You in the tough times. In Jesus’ Name.

Share your testimony of hope below.

New York City–based Joyce Swingle is an intercessor and a contributing writer for IFA. With her husband, Rich, also a contributing writer for IFA, Joyce shares the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world through theater, speaking, writing, and film. Prior to going into full-time ministry, Joyce worked for about 20 major magazines and now works in pastoral ministry and Christian counseling. www.Richdrama.com. Photo by ABEL MARQUEZ on Unsplash.

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Janice Rhodes
September 10, 2024

Great article. Thanks for challenging us.

Elena
September 8, 2024

The Lord Jesus Christ has to be in first place no matter what. The ways of The Lord are always perfect, so what we are reaping now is not the plan of God but the plan of the enemy they are the consequences of bad choices.
The Bible , The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were taken out of schools and universities decades ago.
The people don’t even search the background of the candidates to vote for, they make their decisions because of the color of their skin , or because the person speaks so charismatic and they don’t even know for what values they stand for., and fall into the net of the enemy. (Psalm 141:9)
The devil comes to steal kill and destroy John 10:10
We can never forget that this country was founded on Biblical Principles and many fought for
the liberties it stands for: freedom of speech, religion, freedom of assembly. etc.
This country supports most missionaries (myself being saved by a missionary who went to Peru)
The world copies the USA even now they are watching and waiting for this election.
We are responsible to make good decisions and elect righteous people that defend the values of The Bible and not to become the copycat of other nations but to be an example for the world.
We can never forget what the Bible says:
“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people mourn “
Proverbs 29:2
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge “
Hosea 4:6
We pray 🙏 that The Lord will have mercy on this land and to elect people who fear God and respect His Word and that He will not break His covenant with us,
Lord we repent for the sins of our Nation and we will look to you for
every decision we make , You are our only Hope in Jesus Name we pray. Amen!

9
Brian Lynch
September 8, 2024

Thank you, Joyce for this excellent article.. If we have Jesus, we truly have everything that we need, plain and simple. Our hope is in Him alone.

7
BJP
September 8, 2024

So Good. So Timely. So Needed. I have long been thinking that what we are going through right now, with the current government is like a punishment we have brought onto ourselves by our disobedience and sin. At least to me that is what it feels like. As I read this article, having sat and prayed that God will not let it continue, I realize it may well be our 70 years of what we deserve. I hope not, but if it is, my HOPE like Joyce’s is in Jesus Christ.

Dearest Heavenly Father: I humble myself before you and repent for any times I put my trust or my hope in anything but you. From the very most inner parts of my being, I KNOW you are the only one who is honest, true, faithful, worthy and can be counted on. I would like for things to be a certain way, but I also know that you alone know best. You know the desires of my heart, and you know what I have need of, even before I ask. It is most important now for me to fully surrender myself to your will. My HOPE is in you, My Lord and Savior. I trust you. I want so badly to do you will, to be obedient, to do whatever it is you have laid out in your plans for me. Help me Father to listen closely to you, to stay grounded in your word and prayerfully wait on your soon return. You alone are worthy to be praised and we given you all Honor, Power, Glory and Praise. In the Mighty Name of Jesus we pray. Amen

9
Darlene Estlow
September 7, 2024

Thank you, Joyce, for this article. May we trust God and hope in him above all else! If he gives us good, righteous government, may we not just settle into old patterns but renew our trust in God. If he gives us into a wicked government, may we look to him in hope for the good he will do through it and see all this as temporal. May we as God’s ekklesia and people have him as our only hope and trust him to work even as we pray. Praise to God.

17
Lee Anne
September 7, 2024

Thank you for this article. I think we need a supernatural gift of repentance from the Holy Spirit. During the Covid years I did not hear one call for repentance from churches in our area in Charlotte, NC. When i asked a staff member of a large church in southwest Austin (where we now live) about repentance, she had only heard of lament happening. As 9/11 draws near again, we remember the people flooding to the churches … but only for a time. We really do need a work of repentance individually and corporately that will last.

21
Sandy Grogsn
September 7, 2024

I composed a bumper sticker a few years back. “Look to God, not gov”.
everyone including Christians told me not to put it on my car ! it will be a target, they said.
But wouldn’t it also scream” don’t look to a change in government to save us!”. why not let people know only Hod is our answer?
what do you think? I live in WA !!!!

17
Nancy Seeger
September 7, 2024

Amen. This convicts my heart as well. I am too attached to comfort and the blessings we have had here in America. God is stripping it away. Only Him.

14
Sheridan
September 7, 2024

Many years ago when I studied Hebraic roots as a Christian, I learned of a concept that is Hebrew. It is called the “both and”concept. The essence of the concept is this. If you have two choices, neither one of them poor choices, you can choose both. You can pray for both, you can hope for both. It’s perfectly acceptable with God and that was the Hebrew understanding. The other understanding is called Greek linear understanding and logic. It causes a person making a decision to choose one thing over the other, when both choices may be good ones.
However, the bottom line of our choices is our hearts. It’s fine to have a heart that wants a great awakening and harvest, as well as a government that will do right by the people! Isn’t that what God wants? I believe it is. So that’s where my hope and prayers are, and that’s where they will stay.

19
    Jen
    September 7, 2024

    Amen!

    1
    Barbara V
    September 7, 2024

    Thank you Sheridan for your reply. This explanation makes sense to me since this is where I also find myself.

    2
RICH
September 7, 2024

LORD GOD:
PLEASE BRING REVEIVAL TO THIS COUNTRY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, PLEASE DON’T DELAY.
I ASK IN JESUS’ NAME
AMEN

16
Mary Beth
September 7, 2024

Many things throughout my lifetime (I’m 74) have seemed to establish what I might call a “new normal” – eg. 9/11. But even the “new normal” then becomes a moving target, with changes happening at such a fast pace. So if we’re looking for or hoping for a return to what we experienced in the past as “normal”, we will live in a constant state of frustration. The great thing is that God, in contrast, never changes. And He has promised to never, never, never, never . . . leave us or forsake us. So even if greater chaos is coming, our trust, faith and hope are secure in Him, and His abiding presence.
“Now people swear oaths by someone greater than themselves, and confirmation by an oath puts an end to all dispute.  Therefore, when God wanted to demonstrate still more convincingly the unchangeable character of his intentions to those who were to receive what he had promised, he added an oath to the promise; so that through two unchangeable things, in neither of which God could lie, we, who have fled to take a firm hold on the hope set before us, would be strongly encouraged.  We have this hope as a sure and safe anchor for ourselves, a hope that goes right on through to what (or who) is inside the parokhet, where a forerunner has entered on our behalf, namely, Yeshua, who has become a cohen gadol forever, to be compared with Malki-Tzedek.” Heb. 6:16-20
Though this passage of Scripture refers specifically to the covenant made with Abraham, which we are seeing fulfilled day-by-day, Lord, I believe it applies to every covenant You have made with Your people. Thank You!!

14
Susan
September 7, 2024

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ, my righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

32
Sue
September 7, 2024

Thank you for this sobering message. God alone knows what it will take to purge our hearts of idolatry and bring His people back to Him. His ways and wisdom are higher., help us remain faithful to fast and pray, ( 2 Chron. 7:14!) and no matter what, place and KEEP our hope only in You, Lord! Let us remain faithful to proclaim Your love and Your Word and be Your lights in this world, so that many come to You as they witness our confident trust and Hope in You— and rest in Your goodness, mercy, and redemptive love!!! You are our good, good Father!

30
RICHARD DARONCO JR.
September 7, 2024

“Their hope was in their return to the Lord.” Amen, and Amen – and as a secondary blessing many in government will be lead to God’s call to repentence; makeing life smoother.
All the best to the author of this sobering yet uplifting writing. I have fond memories of seeing her husband Rich around Redeemer Presbterian, and seeing him perform with heart at the Lamb;s Theater, in NYC.
Yes, our hope must be in Him.

18
Joanne Kennedy
September 7, 2024

“we had better buckle up because much more chaos is coming.”
What exactly does this mean? Can you explain? Thank you

3
    Joyce Swingle
    September 7, 2024

    Dear Joanne, I am referring to the current unrest focused on the conflict in the MidEast, the increasing opportunism for violence under cover of political differences, and the very real possibility of armed conflict between factions with differing political views as we progress through the political season ahead. Recent years have seen significant spirits of division operating on many levels: politics, government, social policy especially related to young people’s gender confusion, and on and on. The idea of stirring up conflict is common among those who hope to seize control in the guise of calming the nation. We are likely to see more street demonstrations in the months to come.

    11

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