Where do We Turn When the World is Upside Down

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson

My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law. Psalm 119:136

Everywhere I turn I see believers crying out, looking for answers. Many are looking for our governments to step in and save us. And while I do have personal opinions about events of these days—what I’m truly mourning is the fact that we’re no longer looking to God for salvation, but to man.

I don’t believe it’s possible for legislation to save us. And more than that, we cannot look to legislation to guide morality. Morality must spring from something more foundational, and I believe it does. 

Each of us carries a foundational idea of right and wrong. It’s something that God has instilled within us. 

You see, our conscience comes from God. It was created within us when we were formed in the womb. If we were just products of Darwin’s theory, then our conscience would be weighted with a foundation of kill or be killed—survival of the fittest. Instead, we have a different foundation.

Don’t believe me? Take a look at our laws. Take a look at our day-to-day interactions. We don’t reward bullies and those who look out only for themselves. Our belief system reflects something more than that. It reflects God. 

We can stifle our conscience by ignoring it and trying to re-educate it. But it’s still there, and when we once again turn our ear to that pure voice, it will spring back to life.

In these days, we each need to turn back—to look to God to dictate what is right and what is wrong. First as individuals, then as a country. When we make God our priority, then the other things will fall into place. We’ll interact with one another in love.

No, I’m not suggesting some type of hippy nirvana filled with a false sense of anything goes. Or a watered down version of who God is and how He demonstrates His love for us.

His love is the real kind.

The hard kind. 

The kind that calls for

• Loving our enemies.
• Forgiving those who wrong us.
• Holding one another accountable.
• Turning the other cheek.
• Standing up for what is right, whether it’s the law or not.

When we look to God for the answers, we’ll find unity. 

Not uniformity, never that. God created each of us unique and special. But He gave us traits in common—with Him—and with each other.

So today, I’m praying for our country. And I’m not praying small. I’m not focusing on individual sins, although I'm beginning there. I know I'm not perfect. So I’m first praying about my own short comings and asking for forgiveness and a renewed sense of right and wrong. I want God to clean out the junk and put me back on a track to be more like Him. Then I’m asking God to reclaim this country as His—with His definition of right and wrong.

Can one person make a difference? 

Maybe not at first. 

But for a difference to be made, we must all begin alone, in a one-on-one conversation with God. Then, when all those individuals come together and return to God, absolutely. 

Will you join me?

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. II Chronicles 7:14

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Edie Melson is a woman of faith with ink-stained fingers observing life through the lens of her camera. No matter whether she’s talking to writers, entrepreneurs, or readers, her first advice is always “Find your voice, live your story.” As an author, blogger, and speaker she’s encouraged and challenged audiences across the country and around the world. Her numerous books reflect her passion to help others develop the strength of their God-given gifts and apply them to their lives.Connect with her on her website, through Facebook, Twitter and on Instagram.