Much has already been said and written about the disgraceful Aug. 8 FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago. I want to take more of a “30,000 foot view” of where we go from here. (Maybe my airline pilot background helps to give me that vantage point.)

We’ve seen tremors leading up to this for the past year and a half: widespread election fraud and raids on homes of Trump allies like Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, Peter Navarro, George Papadopoulos and others. Raiding the home of a former President of the United States and future political rival is the actual earthquake. We’ve joined the ranks of Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Iran and others who persecute their political enemies to stay in power.

So, now what? From a Christian perspective, we need to move forward with these four considerations in mind:

Finding the Silver Lining

First, the Bible admonishes us with this: “In every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). You may be thinking, “Thankful? For a Gestapo within our country?”

No, but we can be thankful for a few things in our government, like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema — who are the only two threads, humanly speaking, by which our republic hangs. Sure, they caved on the “Inflation Reduction Escalation Act,” but at least they have some sense of sanity.

They have opposed eliminating the filibuster, packing the Supreme Court, and abolishing the Electoral College. It cannot be overstated how important that is to us as we run out the clock to the mid-terms. If the Democrats had rammed that through, the United States would have already ceased to exist as we know it. We would be a one-party rule and eventually one-dictator rule country.

Also, we can be thankful that we have a majority of clear-thinking Supreme Court Justices that has given us some wins, including the elimination of Roe.

Most of all, we can be thankful that 88% of the American people think our country is on the wrong track, according to a recent Monmouth University poll. That’s a tremendous counterweight to this madness, and our democratic republic will work if we can keep them from cheating in November.

Overcoming Evil With Good

All indications point to the GOP taking back the House and probably the Senate in the November 8 election. If and when that happens, there’s going to be an enormous pressure for payback … to throw Biden, Harris, Garland, Wray, and the whole bunch in jail. Some of them probably deserve that. And my “fleshly side” has to confess that I would enjoy watching that — with popcorn — as much as anyone else.

But all conservatives, especially lawmakers, must remember that God says, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay” (Romans 12:19). God is a lot better at it than we are, if we will just sit back and allow His principles to play out. “Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, And he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him” (Proverbs 26:27).

Verse 21 of Romans 12 goes on to say, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Yes, there should be investigations, (fair) trials, and possibly even jail time if warranted. God is a God of justice. But revenge can never be the motive. And even if warranted, I think mercy to the extent possible should be considered to avoid starting a vicious cycle in our government.

If the Trump-haters have done us any favor, they’ve exposed some flaws in our government that are vulnerable to the abuse of power. Fast-forward to 2024. If the GOP retains Congress and picks up the White House, they should put permanent safeguards in place to fix those flaws.

Thank God for our founding fathers and our God-inspired Constitution and Bill of Rights. But in 2011, the late Justice Antonin Scalia made the excellent point that the Soviet Union also had a Bill of Rights — but it was just “words on paper … a parchment guarantee.” He went on to say that it “did not prevent the centralization of power.” Click here to watch the video:

The current administration has done an end-run around many provisions in our Constitution and Bill of Rights with no accountability. They are doing their best to reduce them to just “a parchment guarantee.” We must take measures to better enforce our rule of law with real consequences. That would be one way to overcome evil with good.

‘Fighting’ From Our Prayer Closets

We must all realize that we are dealing with a problem that’s rooted in the spiritual world. We can’t fix it in the physical realm alone. Ephesians 6:12 tells us “we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world.” Demonic forces are influencing a movement to overthrow the United States of America as that “city on a hill” that Reagan spoke of. But Jesus gave us authority “over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19).

Throughout the Bible, God has always had a remnant. In Romans 11:4-5, the Apostle Paul said (initially quoting from 1 Kings 19), “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” And, my brothers and sisters, we who have partaken in that “election of grace” are that remnant here in the U.S.A.

There were variations in Baal worship, but the Canaanites worshipped Baal as the “sun god” and the “storm god” and appeasing him required human sacrifice. Hmm. That sounds a lot like the climate change and abortion cult of the Left today.

We must stand strong and be “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14). In part, that means loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us. (See Matthew 5:44.)

Letting Our Voices Be Heard

All of that being true, there’s also an old saying in some Christian circles, “Don’t be so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good.” There’s plenty to do in this physical realm as well. Our circles of influence vary from dozens to millions, but we must all shun complacency and let our voices be heard in our spheres of influence.

We can’t kowtow to these evil people who are trying to hijack our country, whatever the consequences. They have been blinded by “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), and we who walk in the light must defeat them. But we must play by the rules (See 2 Timothy 2:5) and first beat them “fair and square” at the ballot box.

Nolan Lewallen is a retired pilot of a major airline and lives near Stephenville, Texas, with his wife, Kim. Nolan’s two greatest passions are the Bible and politics. His latest book, The Integration of Church & State: How We Transform “In God We Trust” From Motto to Reality, brings the two together.