Throughout the course of human history there have been hundreds of tipping points. A tipping point is a pivotal point in history where events could have gone either way. Depending on how these things happened, life could have been different for all of us.
Ask yourself the question, “What if….”
• Washington had not crossed the Delaware? What if America’s fight for independence had been lost? Where would we be today?
• The founding fathers had not established America as a republic with freedom of religion?
• Pickett’s Charge had been successful at Gettysburg?
• Lincoln had not issued the Emancipation Proclamation?
• Lincoln had not been shot and there had been no reconstruction as we know it?
• We had not been able to fight on two fronts in World War II? What if we had won one war and lost the other one?
• We had been unsuccessful on D-Day or at Iwo Jima?
• Truman had not made the decision to drop the atomic bomb? What if Germany had discovered it first?
• John F Kennedy had not been assassinated? Would we have stayed in Vietnam?
• Martin Luther King had not been assassinated? What would be different today in the area of civil rights?
• The Jesus Movement had actually been embraced by the church? Would we have had another Great Awakening?
• We had found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?
This truth can apply to business, athletics, and a host of other areas. How often have you heard a coach say that a game “turned” on three or four plays? We are, I believe, faced with more tipping points than we realize. Some are greater than others, but all are significant in the grand scheme of things.
While these are the questions asked by historians (and those of us who enjoy speculating about how things might be or might have been), the reality is that we will never know. We can’t know. But we should think about how our decisions or lack thereof affect and impact our lives and those around us.
I believe we are at a tipping point in America today. In some way, shape, or form, we are in the last days. Maybe not the last days before the immediate return of Christ, but maybe the last days of this once great nation. If something doesn’t change, we are doomed. I believe judgment has already begun on a nation that has “One Nation Under God” on her coins and at the same time continues to push God aside in her policies and ethics.
The tipping point is here. If we don’t have a revival in our generation, we may have a riot or repression. God is no respecter of persons or nations. He honors those who honor Him. He can and does use evil, godless nations to judge or even deliver His own people who have forsaken Him. If you don’t believe it, read Isaiah 45: “Cyrus, my anointed…” A godless king was used by God for good.
God also used the captivity to show His people that words without works and talk without walk are not acceptable to Him. He will not have vain, empty words and rhetoric. He wants all of us.
Will history look back on us and an event, a meeting, a prayer gathering, or a revival where the wind of the Spirit once again began to blow across this land? Will we see a mighty move of God, or will we limp along toward the cliff of our own destruction?
The reality is that God gives us tipping points. Every time we hear the Word preached, it’s a tipping point. We will either do what God says or we won’t. If we refuse to repent and obey, then we have started moving in the wrong direction. Partial obedience is total disobedience.
Today, if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.
The question begs an answer: “Who is listening to God?” I am keenly aware of a melt down of church going Christians who are going through the motions – then out to eat a sunday dinner and socialize. This is not bad, but what is the focal point of attending church?
Prior to the church service starting, I look around – ladies in shorts and flip-flops, children running across the platform, loud laughter, talking, socializing. How can God get a word in? No one is listening to HIM? Then during the service, people are texting messages, whispering about whatever back and forth. Who is listening to God?