Reflections of an Election Heart, Round Two

Today the sun was shining with unseasonably nice temps for a third of the way through November. Since I live on the west coast of the United States at this writing, Mr. O and Mr. T have already shaken hands and ‘struck the pose’ for the White House press and paparazzi. After which they presumably closed the door and began to have a real conversation, however tentative or ‘grabbed by the horns’ they chose to engage each other. The point being, they had and have some serious business to discuss.

I could pray that the sunshine is an omen, though someone else would likely pipe up and inform me it was grey yesterday, grey today and not lookin’ good tomorrow either. It’s not a case of who the lucky ducks are; it has everything to do with the fact that “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”¹

The problem lies within our ranks and our penchant for determining who are the evil and the good, the righteous and the unrighteous. All I can say is that I have learned, and continue to in increasing ways, that “man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart.”²

I’m not fond of jury duty, though I have performed my civil service and was glad I experienced the judicial process. I also know that in some areas I do not make a very good judge. However…

(If you read along with Nanc much, you’ve  gotten the idea that I usually have an “however”).

There are some things that, more than inalienable rights, are spiritually non-negotiable for me. The heart has it. Or better said, He has my heart. I would rather place my trust fully in the Lord – even and especially when I am concerned for the way of the world and our nation – than to trust in the strength of horses and riders, cheering those galloping for a cause or fearing those intent on overthrow and chaos.

At this point you may be shouting at your computer, tablet or iPhone screen, “What is wrong with her?” Oh, plenty. But there is so much right with the Lord. The greatest disservice we could ever do to ourselves and others is to relegate Him to a ‘Big Guy in the Sky’, ‘Holy Ghost in my closet’, ‘Jesus is just alright with me’, ‘non-existent’, ‘if He cared about this world, why are we in this mess?’ kind of God (or god, for those who think He’s a hoax or a crutch).  He is my Non-negotiable because He changed my life.

Crud, Nancy, do you have to be so melodramatic? Nope. It’s the most sane thing I have ever known. A lot of life was crazy-making and grievous; discouraging, disappointing and frustrating. There are plenty who have tossed this baby out with their bath water because I believe we each have a choice in our pain. We can bear it or we can use it. Christ came to bear it so we could use it in the power of His might to truly make a difference – in our own life and in the lives of others.

Would you rather follow the critical masses of a cause and bear your pain in your soul or on your sleeve like the “I Voted” stickers of a few days ago?

Or would you rather use your pain, whatever it is, by closing the door and having a real conversation, tentative or ‘grabbed by the horns’, with the One who not only loves the world but can change your life? There is some serious business to discuss. Man has horses and chariots; the Lord has wisdom and might.

When you can say or sing, “I am a life that was changed”, believing and knowing it to be true in the fiber of your being, then your changed life is a vessel through which the Lord delights to effect lasting change.

Perhaps change in the very area where the pain threatened to overwhelm, but was used to overcome.

***

That’s my gauntlet for the day. If you pick it up, many are the lives that will one day thank you for it.

As for the ones who toss you out with the bath water, that’s ok.

There’s a river of living water inside you.

~ Gracefully Free

*I’m not done.

¹ Matthew 5:45b
² I Samuel 16:7