2 Chronicles 7:14, New Living Translation

“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

When I was young, I never cared for history that much. I was always told it was important because history repeated itself. Even in this, I still didn’t care that much about history. Maybe that was you too? And maybe, just like me, now that you’re older, you wish you would have paid more attention to history in school.

I am currently reading a book about the history of America, which also includes religion. In the 1630s, the Puritans came to America. They felt led by the spirit of God to colonize America. God was bringing them to the “Promised Land” Just as He did, the Israelites. I was intrigued by this, but what really was interesting to me was that anytime something began to go wrong for the Puritans, they came together, united, and asked this question, “Where do we need to repent?” And they would do so to once again have the favor of God.How many times have we read in the Old Testament about the Israelites walking away from God to do their own thing, and then they returned to God to repent when they recognized their sin? Many times over, and yet God was faithful to forgive their sins and gather them back to Himself. But there were times when they did not return to God right away. God gave them over to their own desires until they did return to Him; and yet there were still consequences to their actions.

Deuteronomy 4:26-29 (NLT) says, “Today I called on heaven and earth as Witnesses against you. If you break my covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing to Jordan to occupy. You will live there only time; then you’ll be utterly destroyed. For the LORD Will scatter you among the nations, we’re only a few of you will survive. There, and a foreign land, you will worship idol made from wood and stone— gods that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there, you will search again for the LORD You are God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.”

I shared this because like the Israelites, like the Puritans, we as Americans need more humility, and we need to seek God! The current state of our nation is due to us rejecting God. We can learn from the history of the Israelites as well as the Puritans. If we humble ourselves before God, if we recognize that we are sinners who need the Savior, if we depend upon God instead of self, if we repent and follow His command, we can once again have the favor of God. 

Just as the scripture above tells us if we seek Him, we will find Him, so does 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT). “Then, if my people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

If God was faithful to forgive the Israelites and return His favor to them… If God was faithful to the Puritans and returned His favor upon them, I believe that God will be faithful and return His favor upon America.

As Americans, let’s do our part in returning to God. Let’s do our part in repenting of our sins and the sins of our nation. Let the sorrow of our sins come from our heart, and let revival break out! Spirit of God, fall fresh on us and have mercy on us! We are a nation in desperate need of the Savior! Let us come together, as the Puritans, and ask, “Where do we need to repent?” Let us repent and let God’s favor return upon us in Jesus’ name!