Peggy Noonan is a widely respected political commentator with a knack for measuring the mood of the American public. In her column last Friday, Noonan addressed what she believes is the biggest threat facing America.

It’s not “government spending, huge deficits, foreign ownership of our debt, world terrorism, two wars, potential epidemics or nuts with nukes,” she wrote. The biggest long-term threat facing America, “is that people are becoming and have become disheartened, [and] that this condition is reaching critical mass …” (emphasis mine throughout).

Think on this. Americans are famous for their optimistic spirit, their “can do” attitude, their empowering sense of hope. Scan the planet. This optimism has left its mark far and wide, high and low—from the muddy banks of the Panama Canal to the dusty surface of the moon. This spirit has been pivotal to America’s ability to survive, even thrive, in the trials and tribulations that have buffeted it along the way.

Recalling the recession in the early 1980s, Noonan notes how, despite the bleak reality, Americans never doubted their eventual success: “We knew we could find a path through the mess.” Sure, people had differing opinions on what path—Republican or Democrat—was likelier to lead to success. The point is, Americans were hopeful because they knew they had options, because “everyone had a path through.”

Today it’s different. Not the crises, but the national mood. It’s so dire it’s unprecedented, historic—“something new in modern political history.”

Americans are profoundly disheartened. According to Noonan, it’s reaching the point of “critical mass.” America’s confidence, that spirit of hope and optimism, is being sapped, rapidly, violently. Not by the extraordinary convergence of individual and national trials, but by the dearth of solutions being provided by America’s leaders.

For the first time in history, “Americans are starting to think the problems we are facing cannot be solved.” Our leaders excel at talking about the problems and pointing fingers to assign blame. Yet they field no viable solutions, no far-reaching options, no clear paths through. “The most sophisticated Americans, experienced in how the country works on the ground, can’t figure a way out.” The people know it.

“[O]ur government, from the White House through Congress and so many state and local governments, seems to be demonstrating every day that they cannot make things better.” It’s a bipartisan affliction too. And it saturates the media, where pundits—liberal and conservative—thrive on identifying the issues, debating the problems and attacking their opponents, yet flounder when it comes to putting forward actual long-term solutions.

Honestly, can you name one politician, one political commentator, one news anchor, who is providing real solutions—solutions that address the core causes of America’s problems? Rather than forge new paths, America’s leaders flog the same old paths: “spend more, regulate more, tax more in an attempt to make us more healthy locally and nationally.” The result?

A disheartened, discouraged nation.

In a democracy, followers expect their leaders to see what they cannot or do not see. Leaders are provided with the infrastructure, the intelligence, the education, the political and legislative framework, the technology, to do this, to see reality from every angle. Equipped with the means of distilling crises, leaders are expected to present tangible long-term solutions, to forge new paths through, to lead the country forward. This confidence in leadership is essential to successful governance and national stability.

When that confidence is shattered, the underpinnings of democracy begin to crumble. The people grow worried, they become unsettled, they grow wary of their leaders, then of each other. This is why this crisis of confidence is potentially more damaging than any other issue: It is paralyzing the nation, rendering it incapable of defending itself from all other crises.

Noonan’s assessment of America’s mental state is accurate. But it’s not original. Roughly 2,500 years ago, before the United States existed as the sovereign country it is today, the Prophet Isaiah discussed the headless and hopeless condition America currently finds itself in. Isaiah 3 is an end-time prophecy pertaining specifically to America and the other end-time descendants of Jacob, also called Israel. (You can prove this by studying The United States and Britain in Prophecy.)

The theme of Isaiah 3 is leadership, and specifically its demise in the nations of Israel, including the United States, in the end time. “For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water.” The terms “stay” and “staff” refer specifically to leadership and government. According to Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, these terms refer to “the chief persons of a nation, on whom [the people] lean.”

The most important part of this verse, however—and the key to truly understanding this chapter—pertains to the cause of Israel’s demise in leadership. Isaiah is explicit: God Himself is responsible for removing quality leadership from the United States. How? Verses 2-3 furnish some insight. By removing “the mighty man, the man of war, the judge … the prudent, and the ancient,” as well as “the honorable man and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.”

Notice the latter half of verse 12: “… O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” Err means to wander, go astray or stagger. What an apt description of the United States today. Americans are disheartened. They’re lost, staggering around without hope or direction, without a clear idea where they’re headed. All because “they which lead thee cause thee to err.”

And notice, these leaders don’t just cause the people to err, they actually “destroy the way of thy paths.” Noonan’s column last week was essentially a description of this prophecy: By causing the people to err, to lose confidence, to become so hopeless and disheartened that they no longer see a path forward, America’s leaders are actually destroying the country.

When we set aside any prejudices against the Bible and consider the facts, it’s easy to see the similarities between the scenario described by Isaiah and the state of the United States today. God is indeed cursing the leadership of this country. But why?

In a word: Love.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [corrects], and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Hebrews 12:6). The Bible overflows with examples of God correcting and cursing the people He loves. Obviously, He does this on an individual level—but He also does it nationally. Ever since He created man, God has been intimately involved in global operations. God has a special relationship with many nations, including America.

It’s because of this special relationship, and His abiding love, that God is correcting the United States. The curses are painful, and the state of America’s leadership surely is disheartening. But the key to moving beyond these negative humans emotions, to seeing the hope, is to consider these curses from God’s perspective. Every curse is a sign of God’s love, of His yearning to get the attention of this world and ultimately do what leaders today are failing to do—to set Americans, along with the entire world, on His new path.

That path is far-reaching and comprehensive. It solves the core of every single human problem. It deals with human nature. When it is fully understood, this vision, this solution, this new path, is so powerful, so breathtaking, so positive, so uplifting, so inspiring, it launches even the most depressed, demoralized and disheartened mind to a whole new level of existence.

To learn about this path from an international perspective, join more than 5 million other people and request The United States and Britain in Prophecy. To learn more about this path from an individual perspective, and how you can embrace it now, requestThe Wonderful World Tomorrow—What It Will Be Like.