Last week left me with no words. Donald Trump won the election, and the world went haywire. It all felt so surreal. I fully anticipated riots in the streets or perhaps even an assassination attempt, but what caught me completely off guard was the way people turned so bitterly and venomously against each other. I couldn't tear myself away from the news and Facebook, just sinking deeper and deeper into depression and disbelief at everything I was seeing. On Facebook alone, there were venomous words towards those who voted the "wrong" way, unfriending, unfollowing, and story after story of racial hatred towards others. For a few days after the election, I just felt like being quiet as I took it all in. I shouldn't have been surprised at the depravity that was spewing from people's hearts, but I was. The last straw for me was watching a video on Friday night of a mom torturing her child by telling him he was kicked out of the house for voting for Trump in the mock school election. This poor boy, probably no older than nine years old, was crying and screaming, thinking his mom was truly kicking him out into the streets. I cried with him. It was just too much. This week still leaves me at a loss for words, so I'm just going to share some of God's. These words that follow are a portion of what I read on Saturday morning as part of a read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan, and they reminded me of the hope we have in Christ. They felt particularly applicable and/or encouraging given the events of the last week. One day God will put all things right! These are words of prophecy about Jesus from the Old Testament book of Isaiah, and some words to Christians in the New Testament imploring us to walk in the unity and love of Christ, giving direction on how we should treat one another. Enjoy. Isaiah 9: 1-71 But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. 2 The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. 3 You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4 For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. 5 For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. 6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. Isaiah 11:1-101 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; 4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. 5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist. 6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. 7 Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea. 10 Then in that day The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious. Isaiah 121 Then you will say on that day, “I will give thanks to You, O Lord; For although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, And You comfort me. 2 “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.” 3 Therefore you will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation. 4 And in that day you will say, “Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted.” 5 Praise the Lord in song, for He has done excellent things; Let this be known throughout the earth. 6 Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. Ephesians 41 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men.” 9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) 11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. 17 So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. 29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
2 Comments
I’ve been attempting to write something about the 2016 Presidential Election for a while now, because Jesus is most certainly relevant to what is going on in our country, but the words aren’t coming easily. So much has been said already, from pretty much every angle, so what more is there to add? As I think and pray through what I want to say, one passage of Scripture that keeps coming back to my mind is 1 Samuel chapter 8. It feels so reminiscent of what is happening in America right now, and the Old Testament has never felt more applicable to me than it does this year. I can only steer people in one direction, and that's towards Jesus, but as far as this election goes, here are my thoughts on how America got itself into this place where we have to chose between a rock and a hard place. Israel and a KingIn the days of Samuel, Israel had judges, rather than kings or presidents, like we have today. Samuel was one of the judges whom God had appointed to rule Israel, and it was a season of Israel’s disobedience to God. Samuel was a godly man, but towards the end of Samuel’s life, he appointed his sons as judges of Israel, and they “turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice.” (1 Sam 8:3). Sound familiar? It does to me. It sounds a whole lot like many of the people we currently have in office, and those who are now aspiring to rule the United States of America. Corruption in government is nothing new. The people of Israel approached Samuel and asked that a king be appointed over them like all the other surrounding nations. This didn’t sit well with Samuel, but he took it to God. Here was God’s reply: “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day – in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods – so they are doing to you also. Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them.” (1 Sam 8:7-9) Samuel continued to listen as God warned of the king who would reign over Israel, if that’s what they chose. God warned that the king would take the possessions of the people for his own, and that the people would become his servants. The people would cry out, but God wouldn’t answer them in that day. Basically God said, “I’m your King. If you want an earthly king, you can have one, but you’re not going to like it.” America and a King America, we as a nation have rejected God from being our King. Instead of individually and corporately turning to Him for guidance and leadership and lordship, we have sought earthly leaders and legislation to solve all our problems. We have tried to legislate morality and generosity rather than each submitting our hearts to God’s leadership in those areas. Our hearts have turned from God, as we kick Him out of schools, government, and our daily lives. We no longer call sin “sin,” and we tolerate the things that God finds despicable. Samuel brought the word of God back to the people, warning them of what a king would bring, but they insisted on having their own way. “No, but there shall be a king over us,” was their reply. (1 Sam 8:19) So Samuel under God’s leadership appointed a king over them, and he ended up being a miserable king, just as God had warned. I wonder if our present situation in America is a result of us neglecting to heed God’s warnings over the years. Have we been insistent on having our own way, despite what God has said? We continue to stray farther and farther from God's ways, and we have ended up with two presidential candidates who are both either corrupt and/or immoral. How did that happen? When people reject God enough times, He’ll pull back, let them have their way, and leave them to their own devices. There are a number of times throughout Scripture where He “gave them over in the lusts of their heart to impurity” or “gave them over to a depraved mind” or hardened the hearts of those who didn’t want to follow Him. God doesn’t force Himself on us, but sometimes if someone rejects His instruction enough times, they lose their chance. Perhaps that’s what’s happened in America. It’s just a thought, but maybe God is leaving us to our own devices. That's what we wanted, right? Romans 1:28-32 says, “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” Ouch. I don’t know a single person on earth who hasn’t upset God in at least one of the above ways. Election time in this country brings out these sins in abundance in people! Just watch the news or check your Facebook feed. Two Bad ChoicesThe people of Israel had two bad choices for their leader:
America also has two bad choices for our president this year. Enough has been said about the despicable details of the character of our top two presidential candidates, so I will say no more about that. But like the people of Israel, America is neglecting its third option: to turn our hearts wholly to God. While we are busy arguing with each other over whose sin is greater between Trump and Clinton, are we submitting our own hearts to King Jesus? Christians: we have declared that Jesus is the Lord of our lives. But do we act like that each day, or do we also get caught up in foolish controversies, slander, pride, and the like? Are we putting our trust and hope in the wrong places? Are we trusting Trump or Hillary to change America, to end poverty, to end corruption, to end greed, to bring unity? Or are we on our knees humbling our own hearts in each of those matters before the One who can truly bring peace to a nation? Are we praying diligently for the hearts of our leaders and other civilians alike, that they would also turn to God as their King? Imagine what our country would look like if each person was fully submitted to Jesus as their King:
Until Jesus returns one day (and He will), we’re stuck in an imperfect world with sinful people running the show. I realize that we can’t actually vote for “Jesus” on our ballots this year and have it be worth a darn in this election. But if our nation doesn’t turn its heart back to God who has blessed us so richly in this country, I fear He will remove His blessing from us, so that we will cry out to Him, as happened with the people of Israel time and time again throughout history. The following is a promise that God made to Israel, but perhaps He will also show our country the same mercy if we turn back to Him: “and [if] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14) “We Shall Over Comb”This photo is of a bottle of hot sauce I found at our butcher shop over the summer. I found it humorous and bought it as a joke for a family member, but the sad truth is that with either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, the best we can hope for is to “over comb.” When we “over comb,” we’re simply covering up the problem, and not addressing the root issue. Trump and Clinton may have some ideas and suggestions of laws and policies to put in place in attempts to solve our nation’s troubles, but they can never fully fix our nation, because they can never fix people’s hearts. To truly overcome in this country, the root problem of sin needs to be addressed, and only Jesus can do that, starting in the hearts of each individual. When we humble ourselves and confess our sin to Jesus, he forgives us and makes us new. That’s what we need in this country: people with forgiven hearts and fresh starts! Jesus said in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John later writes, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5) Whom Should I Vote For?I'm not going to tell you whom to vote for. How can I? In this election, seemingly more so than any other, it comes down to a matter of conscience. If voting for Trump violates your conscience, then don’t. If voting for Hillary violates your conscience, then don’t. I’ve heard convincing arguments on all sides of the equation with reasonable political, moral, and spiritual justifications. Some I agree with, some I don’t. Regardless of whom I think is the best candidate and why, if another is going to feel guilty for making the same decision, I would never push them to go against what they feel is right before God.
Seek God above all else, and research all the issues at stake and potential long term outcomes for our country when casting your ballot. And then trust God that His plan and purpose will be fulfilled, regardless of who wins this election. Remember: “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.” (Proverbs 21:1) “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) |
AuthorFull time office worker, full time wife, and full time lover of Jesus. I'm kind of a Bible nerd, and I have a passion for finding ways to introduce Jesus in a practical way to everyday people doing everyday things. Archives
August 2017
Categories
All
|