How quickly life changes. The past week has been a roller coaster of emotions–fear, disappointment, sorrow, and helplessness. And then I remember who I am and Whose I am. Fear is not welcome in a life surrendered to Jesus Christ and neither is helplessness. I know what to do when these ugly emotions nip at my heels and rare their heads during the dark hours of sleep–PRAY!
Let me also say, I’m not a political person. I vote on the basis of my Christian faith and then get back to the gift of living, of serving my family, church, and community, and thinking about what I’m going to have for dinner. The past couple of months have been different though. Listening to the blasphemy against God, half-truths, and outright lies has caused me a great deal of anxiety. I know my God is in control, but I also know His Word says He will remove His protection over nations who turn their back on Him.
I believe we are witnessing biblical prophecy playing out right before our eyes. If nothing else, this election proves that charismatic personalities delivering well written sound bites have the power to lead people down a path of deception. And just so you know where I’m coming from, I believe Jesus is the only way to eternal life. He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. Period. Any other teaching/rhetoric that doesn’t align with that is false and will lead to spiritual death. When physical death comes, hell is your destination.
But that’s not the end of the story. We who believe the Bible have much work to do. The reading for today from Everyday Gospel by Paul David Tripp spoke directly to what I’ve been thinking on since last week’s election. He says:
Even though you and I have not outgrown our own need for God’s grace, He calls us to be tools of grace in the lives of others. He has given us the honor of visibly representing His grace to others who need that grace. In this way we represent the look of God’s face, the tone of His voice, and the touch of His hand. We could receive no higher honor.
This high calling is also a hard calling. People who need God’s rescuing grace are often messy, angry, proud, demanding, accusatory, self-righteous, and blind. You cannot be an instrument of God’s grace unless you are willing to step into the mess and get your hands dirty. You cannot demand a comfortable life and also be a tool of grace in God’s hands.
I’ll admit that I’ve been angry this past week, but my greater emotion is sorrow–sorrow for my beloved country and the consequences of the election. The church of Jesus Christ is asleep while a foreign evil is crouching at the door of every home in America. We need to wake from our slumber and put on the full armor of God. Our country won’t be saved through policies, programs, or politicians. We need to be praying for the salvation of those who seek to destroy us. Show grace and mercy whenever possible while also recognizing the danger they represent. The blue wave everyone is talking about is the evidence of a country that has turned its back on everything sacred. Our children are sacrificed and slaughtered in the womb then celebrated in the public places like they are nothing but an inconvenience. God have mercy on us. We must be willing to stand up for what is right and good while also extending grace to those who are blind to the truth. And that is hard. Just as he said in the quote above, “The high calling is a hard calling.”
When I stand before Jesus one day, I want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I don’t want to hear Him say, “I brought the enemy to your door, but you were too comfortable, too self-obsessed, too busy, you missed the greatest opportunity to show the world who I am.”
I want my words to matter. I want my enemies to know that God loves them and He commands me to love them and pray for them. We must remember that most of our enemies have been taught hate from the moment of their birth. It’s up to us to show agape love even when we disagree. We are a country divided, not by red or blue, but good vs evil.
Not a single American should be celebrating. We should be in mourning and see this as a call to action–A call to intercede for our country asking God to protect this great nation and give us the courage to turn back to Him. We should also pray for the salvation of those who have been given a mandate to harm anyone who doesn’t believe in their god.
As Christian believers, we also have a mandate…We are to love God first and others second. Loving God is not simply saying we love Him, we must know what He says is good and do that, and we must know what He abhors and abstain. True love is honest and trustworthy. God is love, but He is also holy and righteous. We forget His holiness many times. Following God is not an easy path. It requires us to surrender our lives to Him. The good news is that He always knows what’s best for us and He will never leave us. When life gets hard, and it will, I have the greatest love of all, and His name is Jesus. I want you to have Him too! He’s as close as the whisper of His name.
None of us know how bad it will get if our country is taken over by our enemies, but God does. As the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 1:21:
For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
