The Lord seemed to be speaking to me over the weekend as I don't think I had been listening to him very well. I had the stomach flu starting early Saturday morning and lasting for about 6 hours of extreme sickness, then the rest of the day recovering from the exhaustion. Sunday was spent resting, though I was able to get out and do some things. Also started to eat a bit more normal. My wife had the same thing though she had more exhaustion but not as much sickness. My oldest son also, he was more like me, but recovered quicker than I did. Must be nice to be young still.
Anyway, I'd been reading and praying over the weekend, and kind of out of the blue on Sunday, the Lord put 1 Timothy into my head. I failed to really read it until this morning. But once again, the Lord knows best and was nudging me in the right direction. You see, last week after the election of Barak Obama as president, I was upset, disappointed and generally just not sure of the direction this country was moving in. I started a blog and posted on facebook a few posts that while I tried to stay positive, still created some controversy and plenty of discussion. I thought perhaps that was what the Lord was telling me to do. But now I'm not so sure.
I feel led today to step back from that path. Like I said 1 Timothy came to my mind yesterday. I was doing my reading this morning and came across a couple things, both in 1 Timothy and also in the devotional book I've been reading.
1 Timothy 2 says
"I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. As you make your requests, plead for God's mercy upon them, and give thanks. Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity."
This reminded me that regardless of who is in power, whomever is the president regardless of party affiliation, we should be praying for them, praying for God's mercy upon them. I need to be able to pray for Barak Obama each and every day. I need to get past my disagreements with his policy and direction he seems to want to take this country and pray for him. We as a nation, did not do enough of that for President Bush, we must not make that same mistake here.
In my devotional study over the weekend (which I actually didn't read until this morning), we read how Peter's pride got in his way of what Jesus was trying to teach him. Peter's pride in his own cleverness and strength got in the way of God's purposes. In one incident in Matthew 16: 21-28, Jesus predicts his death, but in verse 22, Peter says,
"'Heaven forbid, Lord, ' he said. 'This will never happen to you!'"
Jesus responds in the following verse,
"'Get away from me Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, and not from God's.'"
I find this interesting in that I was viewing this election from a human point of view and not from God's. How many of us on both sides of the aisle truly sought out God's will in this election? I'm sure many of us prayed about it, as did I, but even though I prayed, I'm not sure I was seeking God's will. I think I was more trying to force God to see it from my perspective. I had it completely backwards.
The next thing that came to me this morning was from today's devotional. Reading from Philippians 4:8-9
"And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting in to practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you."
Again throughout this election, both parties focused on immediate help for our problems. But what I and probably many others, failed to do was to focus on God's greatness first, which puts our needs in perspective and encourages us to rest easy. He is in charge and at work. Romans 8:28 says,
"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."
Regardless how this or any election turns out, we need to remember that God is the one in charge, not us. Everything that happens serves God's purpose. We don't always see God's purpose or his reasoning behind certain actions, but we can trust that he is in control.
This weekend while my wife and I were sick, it was hard to find a good reason for our illness. But I'm sure there was one. Perhaps it kept us home when we could have been in an accident. Perhpas it helped show our children that their parents are human too and at times can be helpless. Perhaps the purpose was just for us to slow down and rest. Or perhaps the only purpose was for me to read and understand these devotionals better than I would have otherwise. I doubt I will ever know his reasoning until I reach heaven someday, but I can know and trust that he is in control.
We as conservatives or liberals can be happy or sad about this election. But we need to understand that regardless of the outcome of this election, God is in control. We need to focus on God's greatness first, pray for our leaders (conservative and/or liberal) and we can rest easy that God has a plan and he will not deviate from his perfect will.
