Many of the candidates throwing their hat in the ring to be the next president of the United States are speaking much about helping our nation return to something she was in the past. Just so you know, I understand what they’re saying. Everything in our nation seems in flux these days. Many are asking questions like; how did things get this way? Why is it that our nation seems so different? What happen to patriotism?

There are a lot of opinions and even more questions as to why things are the way they are. Let me share, though, what won’t bring our nation back to what it was:

Prosperity.

I completely understand the confusion, however. So many think that prosperity is what made our country great and many, many immigrants came to this nation looking for that prosperity. What the immigrants had, however, was much greater than prosperity. (More on that in a minute).

Unfortunately, the confusion continues even in and through the American church. So many look at the church as a gateway to prosperity and look at God as someone who exists to give us more and more. Megachurch pastors seem to be competing against each other to see who can build the biggest multi-million dollar mansion and who can buy their own private jet. It’s pretty bad when CNN has to tell people who Jesus was and what He taught. (See Video below).

Now, we have Donald Trump throwing in his candidacy for president, full of boasting of his own prosperity. The Donald rolls out his campaign plan by boasting his eight plus billion dollar net worth. His goal is seemingly to lead us back to prosperity. He has no hope of doing that by the way.

The problem is that the search for prosperity and our finding sufficiency in it is fleeting.

Here’s the truth: prosperity is not what made our country great. That which made our country great is what made us prosperous.

We’re not the first nation in the world to place false hopes in prosperity. It’s happened many, many times before. You can see it all through history in the story of many nations like the Greek Empire, the Roman Empire, and yes, even in God’s own nation of people, Israel.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God told Israel what their prosperity was actually getting them–nothing. Actually, it was less than nothing. Because they “did not look to the One who [gave] it,” Israel ultimately lost it. And that’s why America is losing it too. It is today just as it was then, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” (See Isaiah 22:8-14)

That’s why James’ words are recorded in the New Testament:

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. (James 5:1–2)

Because prosperity does not deliver greatness!

As long as we think prosperity is what makes men great, we’ll continue to choke on it.

Will God allow our prosperity to fail? Has He? The answer is yes! Why? So we will return to the things that truly made our nation great. He knows as long as we’re enamored with stuff we won’t be seeking Him and He is gracious enough to let those things fade so we will look up again.

You see, it wasn’t prosperity that made the immigrant come to the United States. It wasn’t prosperity that made him leave his home and family in search of something better. It was hope.

Hope is why many an immigrant came to the shores of the U.S. Hope is why so many men and woman in history have looked up from adversity and found the strength to continue. They found the ability to put one foot in front of the other to work, fight, climb, and struggle to make it; to even be great. It was hope! That’s why the psalmist so long ago wrote:

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. (Psalm 42:11 Emphasis mine)

Will prosperity make our nation great again? No. Is it evan possible for our nation to be great again? Maybe not. But this I know, if we ever decide to return to what made our country great in the first place, things like faith, hope, and love; only then will we ever see greatness. Only then will we again be a place where people will want to come for a better life.

Hope in God!

(Start at 39:56 to see Trump share his net worth)