Who is America's No. 1 enemy? How can we survive?

It’s a frightening and ominous prospect to think about who poses the No. 1 national security threat to the United States.

Is it Russia?

Is it China?

Is it the potential for an electro-magnetic pulse that could take down the nation’s electrical grid and fry the circuit boards we depend on for virtually everything in this high-tech, interdependent society, resulting in the deaths of potentially hundreds of millions of Americans?

Is it the unwillingness of the Washington political establishment to secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws?

Is it the potential for attack by rogue nations or other terrorist organizations?

Is it massive civil disorder? Is it lawlessness?

Is it the way Americans have lost control of their government?

Is it Joe Biden?

The list of potentially devastating and catastrophic threats seems almost endless when you start enumerating them.

In considering all of them, however, I came to an alarming conclusion.

It’s leadership. But not just the kind we generally think of.

We should never forget that without favor from God, no leader has even the remotest chance to bring about national healing.

There’s an old adage that a nation gets the kind of leadership it deserves. And there’s much truth to that statement.

The prophet Hosea wrote: “They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.”

We read in 1 Corinthians 2:6: “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:”

And in Isaiah 40:21-23, it says: “Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.”

All of the great ideas of men, devoid of God and His ways, are useless in finding a nation’s proper destiny. We can build walls. We can dream of prosperity. We can plan the best defenses and strategies for peace. But without a focus on God’s plans, God’s ways, God’s laws, it’s all useless, vanity, worthlessness.

Most of all, by the way, the people should not think that national redemption is the responsibility of their favored leader.

If we’re going to get the kind of leader we deserve, then the nation’s righteousness and redemption and blessing is an individual responsibility. It begins with each of us – all of God’s children.

That’s the great lesson of 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall 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.”

It’s an amazing passage. We’ve all heard it a thousand times. But it’s much more profound than most believers realize.

Let’s take it apart:

“If”: The first word of this verse affirms our national destiny is an open question.

“My people, which are called by my name”: Who is God’s people? Those who know Him. Those whom He knows. His children. Those called by His name. Believers.

“Shall humble themselves”: Don’t overlook the very first criteria in God’s recipe for national healing – humility.

“And pray”: How many of God’s people are praying daily this year for national deliverance from the spirit of the age?

“And seek my face”: God wants us to seek after Him earnestly and expectantly.

“And turn from their wicked ways”: Remember, this is an instruction to His own children, His own people, His own flock. It’s up to us to be in repentance continually, not the non-believers, not the pagans, not the worldly.

“Then will I hear from heaven”: If we do all these things – humble ourselves, pray seek His face and turn from our wicked ways – then, and only then, will He hear our pleas. Keep that in mind.

“And will forgive their sin”: That’s our sin – the sins of His people, the transgressions of believers, the ways His children have fallen short of the mark. This is the essential ingredient in this recipe for national healing. The national destiny is in our hands. In other words, it’s not the sin of our national leaders that is holding us back from blessing. It’s what is in the hearts of God’s children – those called by His name.

“And will heal their land.”

I am saying the state of the hearts of believers in America, how we conduct ourselves, how we approach God’s throne, how we deal with our pride, how we pray, how we seek after God, how we conduct ourselves in accordance with God’s laws and how we seek after His forgiveness when we fall – these are the keys to the future of our country. This is the way we achieve national healing.

Do you want it?

Then try following God’s clear direction.

Don’t wait for everyone else to start.

Don’t wait for the wicked to obey.

Don’t wait for national deliverance from princes and kings.

It’s up to you. It’s up to each of us – every one of His children.

“The Gospel in Every Book of the Old Testament” by Joseph Farah is available in both hardcover and e-book versions.

ALSO: Get Joseph Farah’s book “The Restitution of All Things: Israel, Christians, and the End of the Age,” and learn about the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith and your future in God’s Kingdom. Also available as an e-book.

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This article was originally published by the WND News Center.