Can dependence transform to revival?

Maybe this is the time to shift from our god being government to our real God.

Is the sun rising on a new America, one where we bless God as much as He’s blessed us? Only time will tell.

Over the last few days, all that we’ve heard about in the news is the exploits of the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Their deeper look into USAID, for example, has set off a firestorm of controversy as Democrats and liberals (but I repeat myself) are having a collective cow at the revelations of government misspending.

This points out a little-known fact that those who are on the government payroll aren’t just your state highway snowplow operator, local public school teacher, or faceless Washington bureaucrat - their tentacles run deep into the world of nonprofits and NGOs as well. And as that taxpayer-funded spigot is turned off, suddenly these people run the risk of being in the other class of government dependents, that of welfare recipient.

Yet while starvation is a good motivator, this moment of deprivation may also be the time when a spiritual awakening occurs. The circumstances could vary, but it seems to me we’ll have a ripe opportunity to set people down the proper path once they get away from dependence on government and settle into Providence from the Good Lord Himself.

But who said you have to be an ex-government employee or dependent to take advantage of that? Surely there are many pious people who work in government, particularly those who provide a valuable service. Let’s say, though, that DOGE finds $2 trillion a year being misspent on government and the Trump administration figures out how to return that funding to the people via tax cuts. We might find that the generosity of people directs the money to where it needs to go far better than the bureaucracy ever could (and keeps its sticky fingers off of it as well.)

While the idea of government is sold as a hand up rather than a handout, we’ve seen over the years that government isn’t good at solving problems because addressing an issue with a proven solution isn’t good for job security. To use an analogy from construction, once a road is paved there’s no need to address it until the asphalt pavement wears out - unfortunately, it seems we’ve worked the system in such a way that the mill and repave crew comes by every three to four years whether the road really needs it or not. Conversely, I drive a stretch of road regularly that is concrete-paved and has lasted well over twenty years. It’s still pretty much smooth as glass. This was great for the driver and likely cost well more than a standard road did back in the day, but the savings in maintenance has certainly accrued to the benefit of the taxpayer. Yet the rest of the highway is paved with asphalt and they come back every 3-4 years to replace it. Government at work.

Joe Biden wanted to “build back better” but it seemed like all he wanted to do was destroy and help out his favored friends in the process. This time we can do the job right by truly rebuilding, both physically and spiritually.