Yet Another Year of Choices
By Barbara Dahlgren
Abraham Lincoln was president during one of the most trying times in our nation – the Civil War. According to several books written about Lincoln, when a man approached him and said, “Mr. President, we trust during this time of trial in which the nation is engaged, God is on our side, and will give us victory.” Lincoln replied: “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side. My greatest concern is to be on God’s side…”
Lincoln refused to picture the North as entirely virtuous in the Civil War, nor the South entirely evil. He knew each was fighting for a cause they believed in. In his second Inaugural Address in 1865 he said, “Both (North and South) read the same Bible and pray to the same God…” He knew the outcome was in God’s hands. He knew God’s perspective is not always our perspective. God sees everything and we don’t.
Lincoln had profound spiritual perception – which is remarkable considering he never professed to be a Christian. Lincoln attended but never joined a church. He was disillusioned by organized religion, but he never denied the truth of the Scriptures. He read the Bible throughout his life, quoted from it, and made use of biblical images. It is said he knew much of the Bible by heart. He pointed our country to God and continually asked for prayers. He was not a theologian, but he openly acknowledged the sovereignty of God and he was wise enough to see the subtle difference between God being on our side or us being on God’s side.
How many of us want to be on God’s side? Academically, we probably all do. Emotionally, if we are totally honest, most of us want God to be on our side. We want God to back us up, continually deliver us, and think like we do. We may pray, “Thy will be done,” but in our hearts we want God to give us what we yearn for. Far too often we seek for God’s will to align with ours when we should be praying for our will to align with His.
Being on God’s side means we believe and trust God even when He doesn’t give us what we want. A good illustration of this is found in Daniel 2. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to the golden idol because they knew there is only one true God. As a result, King Nebuchadnezzar had them thrown into a fiery furnace.
They didn’t say, “God is on our side. He will protect us.” No, in essence they said, “We are on God’s side. We know that the God we serve is able to deliver us, but even if He chooses not to, we still won’t serve your gods or worship your golden image.”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew what it meant to be truly and wholeheartedly on God’s side. They knew God could deliver them, but if for some reason it wasn’t His will that they be delivered, that was okay with them. Only God knows what His perfect plan is in our lives. Only God can bring it to completion.
Consider this… We can learn a lot from Lincoln’s statement: “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side. My great concern is to be on God’s side.” May we always believe and trust God. May we always seek to be on God’s side.
One final thought…
Here is the rest of Lincoln’s quote: “My greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”
