Epilogue

           Epilogue

   James Andrew Cooper had stepped forward and accepted the job of bringing his nation back from the edge of destruction. He had spent all of his adult life serving and defending his nation as an officer in the United States Air Force. He had distinguished himself during that career and proven himself to be a man of honor. He had faced many difficult missions and made many difficult decisions during that time. He had often been forced to give up time with his family in order to answer the call of his duty. Many times he had doubts and even fears about what the future might hold in store for him, but despite those doubts and fears he had always stepped forward to faithfully do his duty with both honor and courage. During the last few years James had sometimes questioned his own abilities and even the path he was following. But James had never questioned the abilities of his God or any path once he was certain God had put it before him.

   James faith in the one and only true God has recently carried him through some of the most violent and difficult times his nation and the world have ever seen. It has taken him to the end of the path he has been following for so long. His faith has sustained him and guided him along that path as he has followed the Lord along it. His faith was the foundation upon which he stood throughout all the difficult times and difficult decisions he has faced in his life. It was his faith that enabled him to do what many said he couldn't do. Many people saw one man doing what others couldn't do, but they didn't understand that James was never actually working alone. God was always there with him; working through James to reach out to a world in need of God. Many had failed to see or accept that it was one man working for the good of all, but only his faith in the one true God had made everything that one man had done possible. His faith in God and God's own faithfulness to His Word had been what made the difference.

    Now James has come to the end of his journey as an Air Force officer. He can no longer continue to serve his nation as an Air Force officer; not unless he is willing to abandon his faith and the people of his nation along with it. Unwilling to abandon the people of his nation or the faith that has sustained him all the way from his humble beginnings to his current position of power; James has made the choice to leave his career behind. James has given up his own power and put his trust in the power of God alone. This part of the journey has come to an end for James, but his journey isn't over yet. Others have now challenged James to step forward to serve his nation in another way; to walk a new path. Once more James is faced with a decision that will alter his future life and may alter the future of his nation along the way. Once more he must look to God for guidance and wisdom about what path he should take and who he will serve by taking that path.

    His nation is still in trouble and needs someone to lead it back onto a path that won't end in destruction. Many of the current leaders want to once again start the nation down the same path that brought it to the crisis it has just faced. James knows that is the wrong path, but without a new leader to change the course of things; James knows it will be the path that is taken. Many people have seen James as he was leading them out of the chaos that had consumed the nation. They are the ones who have challenged him to step forward and become the new leader; a leader who will take his nation down a different path; a leader to take them down a path that leads out of the chaos of broken promises of government and back to the certain promises of God. Those promises from God were the very foundations upon which this nation was originally built and to which it must return.

    James knows in his heart that only a path that leads back towards God can save his nation from the disasters that men have made. This has been a long and difficult journey for James; and a long and painful fall for his nation to reach this time and place. Now James has made one decision about his own faith and own personal future. But that decision has brought him face to face with another, much greater decision, one that he must soon make. James could simply step back to wait and watch what happens or he could once more step forward to make something happen. He has been called by many good people to step forward and become the leader his nation so desperately needs, but should he do that? Is that the path God wants James to follow now? Has God brought James all this way only to have him step aside or had God been working to put James in this place to become a new leader for his nation in this time of trouble? Was God now calling James to be the leader who would turn his people back to God? A leader who would try to rebuild his nation upon a foundation of faith in God? 

   James had many questions and many doubts, but somehow he wasn't afraid. He knew that he was just a man. However he also knew that there truly was one God, the God he served. Men had forgotten that over the years of plenty in their lives. They had begun serving false gods, gods of their own making, but now James knew that only the one true God could help them. The people were looking for someone; some man to save them. But James knew that no man, no matter how great a leader he was, could do that, not alone. Only with the help of the loving and saving grace of God could any man hope to save this nation. The people of his nation were ready to follow any man who could give them hope for a better future, but would the people of this nation follow that man if he tried to lead them and the nation back to God? Would they follow a leader down a long and difficult path leading back to God and a new secure future? Or would they take the short and easy path leading away from God and back towards their lost dreams of fortune and fame?

   James had asked God all of those questions over and over again. Could James be the leader the nation needed? Did God truly want James to be the leader of this nation? If James became that leader would the people follow him and more importantly would they follow God? Unless they truly began to follow God and not just a man, even a man who followed God, it would mean little in the end. James was just one man and the people needed more than that. The people needed one God. The people needed the one true God! Only God knew the answers to all of the questions men had.

    James knew that only when God was ready and the time was right would those answers be revealed to men. Until then James would just have to hold firmly onto his faith and wait... but would the people of his nation wait with him? Would they wait for God?