Sunday Reflection - War - On Whose Side is God?

If God is always on the side of the righteous – whose side is He on?


More than one million people have died during the past ten years as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue.

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Two parties differ in their ways of life, and in their belief and understanding of God.

God loves us and will neither take sides nor abandon us. He did set up the rules to guide our existence upon our journey here. He will let the law take its course whenever we cause a reaction. That way, we would learn and improve ourselves.

ON WHOSE SIDE IS GOD? 



And so the prayer goes on in camps


Begging the Almighty God’s support


To strike down the opposing fighter 



And each fighting party places its hope


On might of the same and only God 


To upon the enemy strike vengeance.



But who shall God Almighty strike


When He is Love and only Love 


And has made no one His enemy? 



But who shall God Almighty strike


When in His love He has made all 


And has nothing but love for all? 



Now shall God Almighty pitch a camp 


And take side with one of His own 


To bring vanquish upon the other? 



Shall God Almighty worry with man


When He had set the law in time


To guide man from the start of time? 



Or shall He let these events unfold


To take their course and go around 


For the laws of life to apply to all. 



Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, 


are the attributes of God Almighty


who is too much to take any side.

Oliver O. Mbamara, 2003

God is alive and present to every human being on this earth. He loves every one of us equally, which means that God is as much present to those living in Iraq and Afghanistan as God is present to the United States.

God is as much present to the Iraqi soldiers as He is to our soldiers. God is as present to the people from Iraq and Afghanistan as God is to you and to me.

God is present as much to sinners as to saints, because God loves all of us equally.

It’s alright then, to be confused about a lot of things about these wars and the whole situation. It’s alright to be on different sides if that’s where our conscience takes us. But, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we cannot be confused about whose side God is on, or whom God loves more.... them or us.

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When Abraham Lincoln was sworn into office in 1860 the division in this country was so deep that it would take 4 years of war and the loss of almost 250,000 lives to reunite our union. Articles and letters from the period indicate that both North and South were quick to claim divine authority – absolute certainty that their cause was just and favored by God.

During the war Abraham Lincoln attended a scientific convention in Washington - as he exited the building one of the members approached him and asked "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's reply was simple and profound, " Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side. My great concern is to be on God's side. For God is always right!"

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Make sure that you are on God’s side.

For God is always right.