Who Can Solve America’s Problems?

The daily news reports are filled with everything from the murders of children to heroin addictions to terrorist shootings to financial debt and ruin. America faces accelerating international crises, burgeoning national debt, continual weather upsets and virulent moral depravity.

Many offer various reasons for America’s problems. Some blame the failed policies of one administration or another regarding military objectives, economic decisions or a host of other issues. Others fault our lack of action over climate change or other environmental concerns.

But maybe it is high time that we as Americans look at our own faces in the mirror. We, as a people, are reaping what we have sown! How so? Because for one thing, we don’t even follow or believe what is on our currency: “In God We Trust.”

Do we really trust in God?

Actually, many Americans don’t even believe in God. Many don’t consider that God is our Creator and that He is very concerned for us. How many politicians today call on all Americans to repent of their sins and return to God? And if they did, they would be laughed off the stage!

But God is real. He exists, and He will eventually solve America’s problems! But we as a nation have to repent (turn from doing what is wrong to doing the right) and trust in Him. If we don’t, the problems will increase to the point of national disaster. And God is not kidding!

God has been very merciful to our country. Why is that? Because Abraham—yes, the patriarch in the Bible—trusted God. He also obeyed God, as did Isaac and Jacob. From them came a great nation—Israel—and unbeknownst to many today, we are their modern descendants! (For the surprising biblical and historical proof of this, see “12 Tribes of Israel Today: Who Are They?” and related articles on our website).

However, God’s mercy on us won’t last long if we continue to disobey and refuse to trust in Him. We, as a nation, have to come to grips with that reality. There are consequences of sin (which is the breaking of His laws), and He will hold us accountable unless we change.

What God expects of us

The instructions God gave the ancient nation of Israel still apply to us today. There are blessings if we obey and trust in Him. Let’s notice some of those blessings:

“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. …

“Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways” (Deuteronomy 28:1-4, 6-7).

However, there are also curses prophesied to occur if we disobey and do not trust in God.

What will happen if we don’t obey?

“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. …

As a nation, we have sinned before God. We have no one but ourselves to blame for our national problems. Yet God is willing to forgive us and help us if we repent and turn to Him. He is our only solution, but we have to recognize that our sins have had and do have consequences. “Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. …

“The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them” (Deuteronomy 28:15-16, 18-20, 25).

As a nation, we have sinned before God. We have no one but ourselves to blame for our national problems. Yet God is willing to forgive us and help us if we repent and turn to Him. He is our only solution, but we have to recognize that our sins have had and do have consequences.   

Lying and stealing and committing adultery have destroyed personal relationships. We have also destroyed relationships with God by neglecting His Sabbath, which is on Saturday, the seventh day of the week. We are swallowed up with greed, lust and hatred. We need to change!

Unless we do, we are in for some serious times ahead. The Bible calls it the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7). Jesus calls it a time of great tribulation (Matthew 24:21).

What each of us must do

We each must stop sinning. God is always willing to forgive and to help. In fact, He proclaims that if our nation does turn to Him, He is willing to help us even now!

“For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; who can endure it? ‘Now, therefore,’ says the LORD, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart.’ … Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him?” (Joel 2:11-14).

But even if our nation doesn’t change, we must! We can no longer neglect God’s laws and His instructions. We must trust and obey God with our whole being. For biblical help to do just that, read and apply what is written in our booklet Change Your Life!