Independence Day is when we celebrate the freedoms we have in this country.  To some it is a celebration of our ability to be and do what we want to do.  To some it is a celebration of our individual rights. To others it is a celebration of their own independence, the fact that are not accountable to anyone.

The truth is we are only as independent as God allows us to be.  Though many no longer recognize His sovereignty, He is able to take away all we have, and the independence we so cherish.  God places leaders, and He can remove them at His will.  He builds nations, and can tear them down as He chooses.  Why would He choose to tear down a nation that stands for freedom?

The failure to recognize our dependence on God has allowed our nation to believe that anything is permissible.  Many believe that as long as they think it is right, they are permitted to do it.  Some believe they can be as independent as they desire to be, accountable to no one.  Yet the ability to gain that kind of independence is a myth, because regardless of what anyone might choose to think, God is sovereign over all.  In this sovereignty He can choose to dismantle a nation whenever He wants to.

He has warned of this in Jeremiah 18.  He warns us that He has a plan for disaster against those who are evil and wicked, and that they must turn from their sin.  He is warning that He will choose the outcome of a nation based on their willingness to repent.  He chooses, not us, we are answerable to Him for our actions, despite what anyone chooses to think.  Independence is a myth for we must answer to God, and the failure to repent brings judgment, not freedom.  Freedom does not come from full independence, but from repentance.  For only in repentance will we be free from God’s judgment.

Today we celebrate independence day, and there will be many a blog about that, but today I must share about two things that strike me this week, two things that I know the Lord has shown me.

Earlier this week my husband was looking at a church website, and realizing that about 3 years ago this same church was hiring for the same position they are now hiring for.  Back then He sent them his resume, and that was the end of it.  You see, my husband knows very clearly that the Lord is calling him to a certain ministry, and we were struck this week by a very powerful thing.  If 3 years ago he had gotten that position, or the same position with any church, that church would have had to go through the hardship I have endured in this time along with me.  The Lord in all essence protected the body of believers from a  trial that was difficult at best.  Now that is not to say that the body of believers could not handle such a trial, but rather to say, that the Lord protected those believers from having to endure a long trial that would interrupt the ministry of the church.  There is a bigger plan at work that we do not always see.  Three years ago we could not have known what was to come, and how that may have effected any church we would go to and the ministry of that church.  God however did, and in His wisdom and timing ensured that the larger plan He set in motion was still allowed to take place regardless of the circumstance I was about to endure.

Then there is the second thing I was awed by this week.  Gods ability to use whatever He desires to allow His people to do the work He placed before them.  Pray.  How many times does the Lord ask us to pray for one another?  How many promises are connected to the act of prayer?  I do not know off the top of my head an exact number-but I do know it is many!!  This week one 5 year old girl, Kate McRae, brought together believers  unknown to each other in the act of prayer.  How?  Because the Lord bonds us together with the Holy Spirit-we are all one body, all one because He has made us one!  I thank the Lord for allowing me to see that this week in a way I have not seen before-a very unique way.  He allowed the body of believers in a global way to become aware of a need in the body rapidly, and that prayer need was lifted up to Him fervently.

Today we celebrate our independance, but I acknowledge my dependence on the Lord who has a plan for my life, for the life of each of us in the body of believers, and who connects us all as one. I thank Him for the fact that the plan includes me spending eternity with Him in heaven becuase of the sacrafice Christ paid on the cross.  My dependence on the Lord is because I was only able to receive independence from sin through that sacrifice.  I thank the Lord for that each day.