Op-Ed: A Nation of Doeers, Dreamers, Fighters, and Founders – Part 3

By James Wilson • June 2, 2025

The following Op-Ed was submitted by James Wilson. Op-Eds do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of those at the Idaho Dispatch.

That road is the pathway of a lifestyle of repentance, and it leads into the Fourth Great Awakening in American history, a spiritual phenomenon impacting the here-and-now that is already visibly underway.

The people of Old Testament Israel were always navigating through one such crisis after another. Their prophetic depository held a key that was always equally applicable. In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God says, “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 will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

One could carry on about the abortion holocaust that continues unabated even in the aftermath of the overturn of Roe v Wade. We could decry the high percentage of Christians addicted to pornography, or drugs, or any other ethical hot button lapse. Some of us could then congratulate ourselves that we do not indulge in such things; the pharisees among us can model clueless hypocrisy now as they did then. Or we can reflect that the reference from Chronicles is not limited to demonstrable evil, whether it is armed robbery or cheating on our spouse, but includes the most generic types of “wicked ways.”

The Hebrew we translate as “wicked ways” means – literally – inadequacy. We know a couple of things here. One is that all men and women are inadequate when push comes to shove; we do the best we can with what we have to work with and that is why we (ought to) know we need God to “work all things together for good in those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.” The other is that being inadequate is not in itself a moral issue; as a given it is beyond our control and thus our accountability. Yet this remains our sticking point, as it were, because we come to worship our inadequacy.

God calls all His creatures to a radical and consistent dependency on Him. Any time we do our best and stop there we are in defacto worship of our “best” as the ultimate reality of our lives. Once we declare our best effort is our ultimate reality – the phrase, “I’m only human,” comes to mind – we have in effect erected an idol in God’s place. We have become vulnerable not to God but to ourselves in our inadequacy. This is idolatry – pure and simple – and there is nothing that grieves the heart of God more. It is this very idolatry from which He calls us to turn when we translate His words as “wicked ways.” It is in repentance from this apostacy that we grant our permission for Him to hear from Heaven and forgive our sin and heal the very land beneath our feet.

But one may ask what has all this spiritual stuff to do with America’s pragmatic destiny as a nation of doers, dreamers, fighters, and founders, much less with a prophetic statement articulated at the Alamo?

Frankly, none of this is rocket science. One of my favorite scripture passages remains Zechariah 9:8-17. In it the Lord promises unimaginable blessings to a devastated Israel, freshly returned from the Babylonian Exile to a land so ruined it can barely grow weeds. He recounts how they had angered and disappointed Him, but now He promises to do more for them than they can ask or imagine.

His refrain is that they must let their hands be strong – for working His giftings – as He pours out abundance that will not only bless them but their neighbors as well. All He asks of repentant Israel – and of America – is that we do good to one another (vss 16 and 17) and not evil, speak truth and render sound legal judgments, and do not swear falsely. These things would seem to be Civilization 101 – and they are – but we should know that our civilization is in a time of unprecedented corruption, and no party label is immune. Each of us – one at a time – or at least a critical mass of us one at a time – walking in commitment to treat one another the way God has always treated us is all it takes to break the heart of God for joy as His people turn away – repent – from the idolatry of our best and toward that justice that “flows like a mighty river and righteousness like a mighty stream” that only comes from authentic dependence on God with all the strength He perfects in our weakness.

There is a Great Awakening underway. It broke out in California – as the last one did – not because California is awesome, but because she is such a mess. (God doesn’t share His glory.) It has already featured thousands of baptisms – especially on secular university campuses – and a rush of prominent people going public with their faith, from political and artistic leaders to mega successful business and science icons. It is spreading worldwide, as the prophets promised it would. (A photo of an all-night prayer and praise service in Saint Church of East London, UK, is all over social media. More than two thousand attend bi-monthly and are rocking the city.) Our president himself publicly praises God for sparing his life from an assassin’s bullet.

There can be no doubt that America’s birth – and preservation through the Civil War and beyond – were gifts of the Lord for His purposes to be fulfilled. Like Ancient Israel – we are blissfully unaware of how close we came to national death in recent years, or how critical our condition remains. Yet we are still called to be the doers, dreamers, fighters, and founders under a God who perfects His strength only in weakness. He remains the only game in town.

James A. Wilson is the author of Living As Ambassadors of Relationships, The Holy Spirit and the End Times, Kingdom in Pursuit, and his first novel, Generation – available at Barnes and Nobles, Amazon, or at praynorthstate@gmail.com