The Holy One calls to me this morning earlier than usual. I am not tired but I am aware that today is going to be a long day...an important day.....Today is election day.
Listening to the poll takers and political analyzers, I realize how close and divided are the two candidates and their respective sides in this election.
For me the choice is so clear. Four years ago I mourned at what I felt then was the death of my country and the over-ruling of all the ideals that made us who we are as a nation. Because my perspective comes from my personal relationship with my Lord, it's hard for me not to wonder about those who disagree with my world view and the politics that reflect what emanates out of my faith.
Four years ago, the Holy One answered my despair by reminding me that, this world is not my home. My beloved country is still just the land of exile. Heaven is my homeland and I must not become too attached anywhere else.
Four years ago He spoke to me and I read His directive to me in Jeremiah 29:4-9. These passages, after that devastating election, gave me the assurance then, that all would be OK and that He is still on His Throne.
The Lord said to His people, "Build houses, settle down, plant gardens, eat what they produce. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage.....increase in numbers....and pray for the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile, for if it prospers, so will you".
The message was clear, "Continue to live out your faith in Me, nothing has occurred that is outside of My control." That was four years ago and while not without trials, God has sustained us. Life has gone on and now we have another election and the freedom to choose a leader.
The tension has been building up and my questions to Holiness are endless. The question that keeps surfacing is all about how someone else's free will impacts my life and how the exercise of their freedom causes me to suffer, personally or corporately.
So much happens in our lives that seems to play up the sense of being victimized by someone else's freedom. Just ask a faithful but betrayed husband or wife. Just ask an abused victim of unwarranted assault or an orphan abandoned by a heartless parent.
We must all realize that where there is great freedom, there is also great responsibility and great accountability some day. In a national election we can be a corporate victim of someone else's choice of leadership.
It's just not fair, yet when 51% of my countrymen voted for a leader who vowed to change America and lived up to that vow and I must live under the dark consequences of their bad choice, it makes me CRAZY...CRAZY....until the Voice of Holiness speaks.
"Nothing changes My love for you or My promises, even in the land of exile. The darkness will continue to be dark, but you are My light in the world." The Holy One reads my deepest thoughts and fears about all the "what-if's" having to do with this election and the consequences to this nation (and even the world) as we exercise our freedom to choose and vote accordingly.
National trials follow national choices. Corporate accountability brings corporate consequences. Just look at Historic Israel for the Truth of that reality.
Then the Holy One takes me to II Peter 2:4-10 and I find His familiar Peace. "If God did not spare angels when they sinned but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgement. If he did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood upon ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness and seven others. If He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. And if He rescued Lot who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men....if this is so then God knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment while continuing their punishment."
In each situation, God's mercy warned and people chose to ignore the warnings. How much does the decisions of leadership affect our personal lives? How much do we personally suffer or benefit for what our elected President does through his leadership? This becomes the subject of a great debate for another day. The last four years of consequences have been warning enough about straying away from Godly principles. I see the direct correlation and shudder at the thought of corrupt leadership.
But the point to me today is that God knows how to rescue His people even as the whole earth spins out of control. I know this election day will close and become part of history, just like four years ago.
I know my relationship with my God will not change no matter who wins or who loses today. But there is an important lesson for each one of us to glean as we make our decision and cast our vote.
Free will is a sacred trust and must be exercised with great discretion and a thought toward what consequences will follow not just personally but also corporately. Free will must be aligned with God's will or disaster awaits. And we will each stand personally accountable before a Holy God for how we vote in this or any election we have the privilege to participate in. The choice looms large and with great consequences for the next four years at least.
Since we are all in this together I am compelled to say,"choose well, my fellow country men, choose well!"
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
Listening to the poll takers and political analyzers, I realize how close and divided are the two candidates and their respective sides in this election.
For me the choice is so clear. Four years ago I mourned at what I felt then was the death of my country and the over-ruling of all the ideals that made us who we are as a nation. Because my perspective comes from my personal relationship with my Lord, it's hard for me not to wonder about those who disagree with my world view and the politics that reflect what emanates out of my faith.
Four years ago, the Holy One answered my despair by reminding me that, this world is not my home. My beloved country is still just the land of exile. Heaven is my homeland and I must not become too attached anywhere else.
Four years ago He spoke to me and I read His directive to me in Jeremiah 29:4-9. These passages, after that devastating election, gave me the assurance then, that all would be OK and that He is still on His Throne.
The Lord said to His people, "Build houses, settle down, plant gardens, eat what they produce. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage.....increase in numbers....and pray for the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile, for if it prospers, so will you".
The message was clear, "Continue to live out your faith in Me, nothing has occurred that is outside of My control." That was four years ago and while not without trials, God has sustained us. Life has gone on and now we have another election and the freedom to choose a leader.
The tension has been building up and my questions to Holiness are endless. The question that keeps surfacing is all about how someone else's free will impacts my life and how the exercise of their freedom causes me to suffer, personally or corporately.
So much happens in our lives that seems to play up the sense of being victimized by someone else's freedom. Just ask a faithful but betrayed husband or wife. Just ask an abused victim of unwarranted assault or an orphan abandoned by a heartless parent.
We must all realize that where there is great freedom, there is also great responsibility and great accountability some day. In a national election we can be a corporate victim of someone else's choice of leadership.
It's just not fair, yet when 51% of my countrymen voted for a leader who vowed to change America and lived up to that vow and I must live under the dark consequences of their bad choice, it makes me CRAZY...CRAZY....until the Voice of Holiness speaks.
"Nothing changes My love for you or My promises, even in the land of exile. The darkness will continue to be dark, but you are My light in the world." The Holy One reads my deepest thoughts and fears about all the "what-if's" having to do with this election and the consequences to this nation (and even the world) as we exercise our freedom to choose and vote accordingly.
National trials follow national choices. Corporate accountability brings corporate consequences. Just look at Historic Israel for the Truth of that reality.
Then the Holy One takes me to II Peter 2:4-10 and I find His familiar Peace. "If God did not spare angels when they sinned but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgement. If he did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood upon ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness and seven others. If He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. And if He rescued Lot who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men....if this is so then God knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment while continuing their punishment."
In each situation, God's mercy warned and people chose to ignore the warnings. How much does the decisions of leadership affect our personal lives? How much do we personally suffer or benefit for what our elected President does through his leadership? This becomes the subject of a great debate for another day. The last four years of consequences have been warning enough about straying away from Godly principles. I see the direct correlation and shudder at the thought of corrupt leadership.
But the point to me today is that God knows how to rescue His people even as the whole earth spins out of control. I know this election day will close and become part of history, just like four years ago.
I know my relationship with my God will not change no matter who wins or who loses today. But there is an important lesson for each one of us to glean as we make our decision and cast our vote.
Free will is a sacred trust and must be exercised with great discretion and a thought toward what consequences will follow not just personally but also corporately. Free will must be aligned with God's will or disaster awaits. And we will each stand personally accountable before a Holy God for how we vote in this or any election we have the privilege to participate in. The choice looms large and with great consequences for the next four years at least.
Since we are all in this together I am compelled to say,"choose well, my fellow country men, choose well!"
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
No comments:
Post a Comment