Nobody Likes War
Published: January 2007
Recently our President declared that we will be sending more troops to Iraq as a risky new initiative to try to end the war, stabilize the nation and, Lord willing, implement an exit strategy for our troops.
We all realize this demands that the Iraqi people themselves must step up to both appreciate and defend their new- found freedom.
While there are plenty of fears, concerns and even vicious criticisms of this new step by President Bush, we can nevertheless appreciate that he has a plan. With no plan or the over-simplistic approach of "just get out," most thinking people and discerning leaders realize that Iraq would probably collapse into chaos and end up worse than her beginning. Even Jesus says that when an evil spirit is cast out, it attempts to return with seven other spirits more evil than itself, and finding the house swept and clean enters back into a man and the end will be worse than before. There must be a strategy to replace what has been eliminated.
Democrats or Republicans cannot afford to simply decry one another's plans without having one of their own. The mettle and ingenuity of our leaders is being tested and stretched to the limits of their political abilities. We are living in an age where complex problems are going to easily and quickly outdistance human wisdom. Wouldn't it be refreshing to see politicians call the nation to prayer and fasting? Wouldn't it be monumental to see government leaders bow their knees together in bi-partisan prayer and ask God Almighty for divine assistance? We might get a lot done if we didn't care who got the credit.
We all hate war. None of us wants to see our best young men and women put in harm's way. We want peace. We pray for peace. We pray for wisdom for our leaders and for Iraqi leaders to establish justice and a strong defense for that nation so that terrorists are defeated, eliminated, exiled, and deterred. And through this we have the hope of peace in that part of the world.
While we are passionate for peace, here are some points of perspective regarding the war:
- Terrorism is being engaged and directly confronted.
- A vicious despot has been dethroned and defeated and freedom has been given birth. The wicked man who has been taken out of the way was committed to the decimation of the nation of Israel. God is using America and her allies to protect His chosen people.
- Religious and social freedoms have been established and Christian churches are flourishing in the societies of Iraq and Afghanistan.
- While we weep over every casualty of war on foreign soil, we should also weep at the tragic loss of life that is regularly happening in the streets of our own cities. In some regions of the United States, more lives are lost to murders, gang shootings and drug wars each week than have been lost in Iraq in total. And these numbers do not include the holocaustic destruction of young Americans every day through abortion. Would to God we would be as vocal and concerned about stopping that war.
- We do thank God for a God-fearing President who is doing his best to make decisions that will positively affect many generations to come. We need to pray for him and our other leaders. They will make mistakes, but the responsibility of believers is to pray and intercede for those in authority that we might lead a quiet and peaceable life!
Let us all rededicate ourselves to fervent and effective prayer. Prayer changes things. History belongs to the intercessors! None of us likes war. But perhaps the war we truly need to wage is a spiritual one where principalities and powers are engaged and defeated; where authorities are supported and uplifted and souls are protected and delivered!
One Pastor's perspective, Pastor Wendell Smith